Promoting Fiscal Openness
9 Pages Posted: 22 May 2015 Last revised: 7 Nov 2015
Date Written: February 21, 2015
Abstract
Discussion paper for the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency. To a limited degree, international institutions and networks can help to overcome the domestic obstacles that discourage the endogenous development of policies on fiscal openness. They exercise their influence through norm-setting and by exploiting the dependence of national governments on overseas aid and finance. These processes of policy change may produce improvements in the disclosure of fiscal information, and create some opportunities for public participation and scrutiny. But these processes are unlikely, for a combination of reasons, to result in the adoption of procedures that cause a substantial diffusion of power over fiscal policy. To some extent we are seeking to achieve the benefits of democratization in the realm of fiscal policy, without risking the policy instability that has historically been associated with democratic processes.
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