Abstract
For the past 15 years the international community has assumed that by strengthening legislative capacity, legislatures are better equipped to oversee government activity and spending, to keep governments accountable, to secure good governance, prevent corruption, and create the conditions for sustainable economic development. The purpose of the present paper is to test this set of assumptions by focusing on one of the oversight tools that the international community regards as particularly important, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). Structural and organisational features that affect the performance of PACs is analysed, the relationship between oversight activity and effectiveness is investigated, and it is assessed whether good governance is a function of oversight activity, of effectiveness or of both. The analyses reveal that while oversight activity does not always have a significant or directly positive impact on good governance, good governance is indeed a function of oversight effectiveness as the international community had long assumed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 528-546 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Journal | Commonwealth and Comparative Politics |
| Volume | 49 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Nov 2011 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Keywords
- good governance
- legislatures
- oversight
- Public Accounts Committee
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Political Science and International Relations
- Sociology and Political Science
Cite this
Public Accounts Committees in the Commonwealth : Oversight, effectiveness, and governance. / Pelizzo, Riccardo.
In: Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, Vol. 49, No. 4, 11.2011, p. 528-546.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Public Accounts Committees in the Commonwealth
T2 - Oversight, effectiveness, and governance
AU - Pelizzo, Riccardo
PY - 2011/11
Y1 - 2011/11
N2 - For the past 15 years the international community has assumed that by strengthening legislative capacity, legislatures are better equipped to oversee government activity and spending, to keep governments accountable, to secure good governance, prevent corruption, and create the conditions for sustainable economic development. The purpose of the present paper is to test this set of assumptions by focusing on one of the oversight tools that the international community regards as particularly important, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). Structural and organisational features that affect the performance of PACs is analysed, the relationship between oversight activity and effectiveness is investigated, and it is assessed whether good governance is a function of oversight activity, of effectiveness or of both. The analyses reveal that while oversight activity does not always have a significant or directly positive impact on good governance, good governance is indeed a function of oversight effectiveness as the international community had long assumed.
AB - For the past 15 years the international community has assumed that by strengthening legislative capacity, legislatures are better equipped to oversee government activity and spending, to keep governments accountable, to secure good governance, prevent corruption, and create the conditions for sustainable economic development. The purpose of the present paper is to test this set of assumptions by focusing on one of the oversight tools that the international community regards as particularly important, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). Structural and organisational features that affect the performance of PACs is analysed, the relationship between oversight activity and effectiveness is investigated, and it is assessed whether good governance is a function of oversight activity, of effectiveness or of both. The analyses reveal that while oversight activity does not always have a significant or directly positive impact on good governance, good governance is indeed a function of oversight effectiveness as the international community had long assumed.
KW - good governance
KW - legislatures
KW - oversight
KW - Public Accounts Committee
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84859261161&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84859261161&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/14662043.2011.615171
DO - 10.1080/14662043.2011.615171
M3 - Article
VL - 49
SP - 528
EP - 546
JO - Commonwealth and Comparative Politics
JF - Commonwealth and Comparative Politics
SN - 1466-2043
IS - 4
ER -