Scrutinizing Public Expenditures : Assessing the Performance of Public Accounts Committees

In 2002, David McGee wrote a comprehensive report on two important elements in the system of public financial accountability, namely the office of the Auditor General and the parliamentary oversight committee commonly referred to as the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). The purpose of the present pap...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Stapenhurst, Rick, Sahgal, Vinod, Woodley, William, Pelizzo, Riccardo
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2012
Subjects:	ACCOUNT ACCOUNTABILITY ACCOUNTING ACCOUNTING POLICIES ACCOUNTS ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES AUDIT REPORTS AUDITING AUDITING STANDARDS AUDITORS AUDITS AUTHORITY BILLS BUDGET PROCESS CABINET CABINETS CENTRAL GOVERNMENT CIVIL SERVANTS COMMITTEE HEARINGS COMMITTEE MEETINGS COMPLIANCE AUDITING CONSENSUS CONSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS DEMOCRACY DEMOCRATIC COUNTRIES ELECTION ELECTIONS EXECUTION EXECUTIVE BRANCH EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE POWER FINANCIAL INFORMATION FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT FINANCIAL REPORTING FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDS FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FISCAL FREEDOM GOOD GOVERNANCE GOOD PRACTICE GOOD PRACTICES GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY GOVERNMENT ACTION GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION GOVERNMENT INFORMATION GOVERNMENT MINISTERS GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS GOVERNMENT PROGRAM GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS GOVERNMENT'S BUDGET HOUSE OF COMMONS INTEREST GROUPS INTERNAL AUDIT JURISDICTIONS LEGAL TRAINING LEGISLATION LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT LEGISLATIVE POWER LEGISLATORS LEGISLATURE LEGISLATURES MAJORITIES MEDIA MINISTERS MOTIONS NATIONS PAC PARLIAMENT PARLIAMENTARIAN PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES PARLIAMENTARY LIBRARIES PARLIAMENTARY OVERSIGHT PLURALISM POLICY ISSUES POLICY RESEARCH POLITICAL ACCOUNTABILITY POLITICAL ECONOMY POLITICAL FACTORS POLITICAL PARTIES POLITICIANS PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION PROVINCIAL PARLIAMENTS PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION PUBLIC EXPENDITURE PUBLIC EXPENDITURES PUBLIC HEARINGS PUBLIC RESOURCES PUBLIC SECTOR PUBLIC SECTOR MANAGEMENT PUBLIC SERVANTS PUBLIC SERVICE PUBLIC SERVICES PUBLIC SPENDING REPORTING REPRESENTATIVES REVENUE ADMINISTRATION SELECT COMMITTEE SELLING STATE ENTERPRISES STATE PARLIAMENTS STATE STATE/PROVINCIAL STATE/PROVINCIAL PARLIAMENTS STATUTORY AUTHORITIES TRANSPARENCY WILL OF THE PEOPLE
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/05/5800994/scrutinizing-public-expenditures-assessing-performance-public-accounts-committees http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8244

Description
Summary:	In 2002, David McGee wrote a comprehensive report on two important elements in the system of public financial accountability, namely the office of the Auditor General and the parliamentary oversight committee commonly referred to as the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). The purpose of the present paper is to deepen McGee's analysis of PACs. In particular, the authors define PAC success and identify those factors that affect PAC peformance. They use data that were collected by the World Bank Institute in 2002, when a survey questionnaire was sent to 51 national and state/provincial parliaments in Commonwealth countries in Asia and Australasia, and Canada and the United Kingdom. The authors find that the institutional factors which most account for the success of the PACs are the focus on government's financial activity rather than its policies, the power to investigate all past and present government expenses, the power to follow up on government action in response to its recommendations, and its relationship with the Auditors General.

Scrutinizing Public Expenditures : Assessing the Performance of Public Accounts Committees

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