Title: THE ROLE OF BUDGET REFORM IN THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF POLISH AND UKRAINIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
Abstract: Are the millions of dollars and thousands of hours of technical assistance to states of the former Soviet Union appropriately focused to deliver the best return on investment? This article examines two prominent concepts in vogue among technical assistance agencies and applies them to the specific area of local government budget reforms in Poland and Ukraine. Clear definitions lead to specific measures that can improve democratic accountability in former Soviet Union states. WHAT DO WE WANT FROM CEE BUDGET REFORMS? What is the purpose of financial management reforms in the states of the former Soviet Union (FSU) and the Central and East European (CEE) nations? Are there multiple goals? Is financial management reform an intermediate objective toward ultimate goals? If so, what are those ultimate goals? The last decade, for example, has spawned a new politics of accountability. The New Public Management (NPM) school has renewed emphasis on demanding that budget documents measure the results of government spending. What matters is the use of the money, not just accounting for the amount. The new politics of accountability is global and pervasive, affecting central, regional, and local governments in many countries. The globalization of the capital markets alone requires a new level of accountability by CEE and FSU governments (Friedman 1999). The new politics of accountability entails high demands from financial management systems, but can CEE and FSU governments meet the expectations, especially at the municipality level? These important questions seem to be unstated in much of the literature discussing administrative reforms in CEE and FSU nations. Yet there continues to be considerable financial investments by donors and recipient governments to support time and energy
Publication Year: 2003
Publication Date: 2003-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 1
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