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Key Text What's Behind the Budget? Politics, Rights and Accountability in the Budget Process

Author: A Norton and D Elson
Date: 2002
Size: 64 pages (427 KB)

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Summary

How can public expenditure be understood as a political, rather than a purely technical process? This paper, prepared for the Department for International Development, tackles this question and provides a guide to the budget process. It reviews approaches to addressing human rights, entitlements, accountability and participation and considers experience with gender-sensitive and pro-poor budget initiatives. It concludes with guidance on entry points, methodologies and partners that can help strengthen voice, accountability and responsiveness in the budget process.

The budget plays a key role in government, determining the origin and application of public financial resources and fulfilling economic, social, legal and administrative functions. The literature generally agrees on the importance of understanding processes of policy and planning that accompany the budget process, and that the process of allocating resources is essentially political. Also, budget allocation issues cannot be abstracted from macroeconomic and revenue issues and it cannot be assumed that allocations translate accurately into spending. A well specified policy environment, and getting the basics right before engaging in ambitious reforms is also generally agreed to be important. However, there is disagreement in the literature on how social concerns should be integrated into macro-planning, and the extent to which unregulated markets can be relied upon to produce desirable social outcomes.

The paper makes a number of points about addressing accountability and participation in the budget process:

There is a tension between establishing statutory entitlements in budgets, and retaining flexibility. There is, however, a case for establishing key entitlements to public provision on the following conditions: They are provided on a non-discriminatory, citizenship basis; they are established through a democratic process, they can be provided sustainably; and accessible systems of redress exist.
The distribution of power within the budget process affects resource distribution, through both formal structures and informal norms. The balance of interests is unlikely to be equitable.
It is therefore important not to take a purely technocratic approach, but to recognise the existence of political aspects of the budget process.
The new focus on outcomes, rather than outputs, may ensure that accountability provides more equitable outcomes for all citizens, although there are considerable challenges to be overcome.

The experience of budget initiatives with social goals yields a number of useful lessons: Successful work on social goals often involves networks of different actors; many initiatives benefit from donor support; successful initiatives are often part of broader political movements; and space for pro-poor engagement is greater where governments have strong frameworks of accountability. The paper gives some factors which are likely to promote accountability and a gender sensitive, pro-poor focus:

A constitutional framework and political culture oriented to citizenship and rights, such as in South Africa and India. Also a system of issues-based political competition is important.
Sufficient fiscal resources for wide-scale delivery of basic services. Donors can play an important role in expanding these resources.
A clear framework of policy goals allied to a vision of respect for social justice. Statements of intent are essential to any attempt to evaluate progress.
Transparent budget allocation decision making systems and budget execution systems. There is a particular need to strengthen the capacity to provide disaggregated data.
An active civil society which is able to access information produce analysis and hold government accountable.
Active and informed citizens able to make claims on services and hold policy makers to account. This involves, for example, access to information, development of skills and allies capable of providing advocacy.

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Source: Norton, A. and Elson, D. 2002, 'What's Behind the Budget? Politics, Rights and Accountability in the Budget Process', Overseas Development Institute, London
Author: Andy Norton , a.norton@odi.org.uk ; Diane Elson , drelson@essex.ac.uk
Overseas Development Institute (ODI), http://www.odi.org.uk/
Organisation: Overseas Development Institute (ODI), http://www.odi.org.uk/