scholarly journals Do Independent Fiscal Institutions Enhance Parliamentary Accountability in the Eurozone?

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 135-144
Author(s):  
Cristina Fasone
Keyword(s):  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Advisory Council ◽  
Economic Governance ◽  
Fiscal Responsibility ◽  
Fiscal Institutions ◽  
The Public ◽  
Economic Context ◽  
Institutional Positioning ◽  
Comply Or Explain

Independent fiscal institutions (IFIs) have been established or reformed in all eurozone countries following the reform of economic governance. As they are expected to counter the deficit bias of the governments and the information asymmetry of the legislatures and the public over the management of the budget, IFIs may support or even strengthen parliamentary accountability. This hypothesis is tested with regard to three IFIs, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, the Italian Parliamentary Budget Office, and the Spanish Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility. Although the economic context in which the IFIs were created was similar in the three eurozone countries, as was their mandate, these institutions have a rather different institutional positioning, being within the Parliament, in Italy; within the Executive, in Spain; and a stand-alone body in Ireland. This is likely to influence the IFIs’ contribution to parliamentary accountability, we hypothesize that the closer the position of an IFI and its contacts to the parliament, the stronger is the scrutiny of the executive on budgetary policies. The analysis of parliamentary questions, hearings, and of the activation of the ‘comply or explain’ procedures shows that, overall, the IFIs’ potential role to enhance parliamentary accountability has remained underexploited by the three legislatures, with no significant differences as for the institutional positioning of the IFI.

Implementasi Asas Keterbukaan pada Pengadaan Tanah bagi Pembangunan untuk Kepentingan Umum: Antara Harapan dan Kenyataan

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Priyo Katon Prasetyo ◽  
Rosye Villanova Christine ◽  
Sudibyanung Sudibyanung
Keyword(s):  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Economic Inequality ◽  
Land Acquisition ◽  
The Public ◽  
Land Scarcity ◽  
Library Research ◽  
Role Of Information

Abstract: Based on Law Number 2 of 2012 concerning Land Acquisition for Development in the Public Interest, the Openness Principle is one of the ten principles as the basis of the implementation of development. This principle is significant because its complex role can lead to conflicts and disputes. In this paper, discussions are divided into two parts: 1) how the implementation is expected to be applied according to the acquisition procedure in theory; and 2) the reality that occurs in the field. The first discussion was conducted by reviewing the applicable regulations and the methods or concepts of development of the openness principle. Meanwhile, the second discussion about the reality on the field was conducted by elaborating case studies regarding problems in land acquisition. The results of this study indicate that there are gaps in the implementation of the openness principle between theory and reality in regards of land scarcity, economic inequality, and information asymmetry among the involved parties. In conclusion, the implementation of the openness principle is significant with the role of information in land acquisition.Intisari: Berdasarkan Undang Undang Nomor 2 Tahun 2012 tentang Pengadaan Tanah Bagi Pembangunan Untuk Kepentingan Umum, Asas Keterbukaan adalah salah satu dari sepuluh asas yang menjadi dasar pelaksanaannya. Asas ini menjadi signifikan karena perannya yang kompleks dapat menimbulkan konflik dan sengketa. Artikel ini akan membagi pembahasan menjadi dua bagian: pertama, bagaimana implementasi yang seharusnya diterapkan pada prosedur pengadaan secara harapan, dan kedua, membahas mengenai realita yang terjadi di lapangan. Secara harapan pembahasan dilakukan dengan melakukan library research atau studi terhadap peraturan yang berlaku dan metode-metode atau prinsip perkembangan dari asas keterbukaan. Realitas di lapangan akan dielaborasi dari studi kasus mengenai permasalahan dalam pengadaan tanah. Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukkan ada gap dalam implementasi asas keterbukaan antara harapan dan realitas di lapangan yang bersumber dari kelangkaan sumber daya/tanah, ketimpangan ekonomi dan asimetri informasi di antara para pihak yang terlibat. Tulisan ini menyimpulkan bahwa implementasi asas keterbukaan signifikan dengan peran informasi dalam pengadaan tanah. 

The Administration of Human Services

1985 ◽  
Vol 479 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
YEHESKEL HASENFELD
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Human Service ◽  
Service Workers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Economic Context ◽  
Service Programs ◽  
Cutback Management ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Human Service Programs ◽  
Administrative Strategies

Human service programs have gone from a period of rapid growth in the 1960s and early 1970s to a period of retrenchment in the 1980s. The changing political and economic context has forced these programs to undergo major organizational transformations and to adopt different administrative strategies. These include degovernmentalization of social services, reliance on cutback management, and deprofessionalization of human-service workers. The article explores the implications of these developments on the delivery of services to the public.

scholarly journals Deconstruction and Reconstruction of the “Comply or Explain” Principle in EU Capital Markets

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantinos Sergakis
Keyword(s):  
Capital Markets ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Investment Strategies ◽  
Market Participants ◽  
Monitoring Process ◽  
Future Potential ◽  
Continued Use ◽  
Transparency And Disclosure ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Comply Or Explain

Abstract The “comply or explain” principle has already acquired significant importance in corporate law and regulations and is considered to be the preferred regulatory tool in the EU for increasing transparency and disclosure of market participants’ strategies and activities. The flexibility of the principle is perceived as the most suitable way to create indirect coordination of practices amongst market actors, as well as better mutual understanding of their different priorities. Having initially shown its considerable appeal in the area of corporate governance statements issued by corporate entities, it has now expanded its influence into other areas serving similar transparency imperatives, such as the exercise of stewardship responsibilities by institutional investors and proxy advisors. In this paper, we will focus on the merits and shortfalls of the “comply or explain” principle in all the above-mentioned areas, both at national and at EU levels, and will critically challenge its effectiveness in the current regulatory framework. Moreover, we will seek to justify its continued use by demonstrating its future potential role as a veritable dialogue spectrum between different market participants. Lastly, we will emphasise the need for a soft monitoring process from national regulators which will enable both the “comply or explain” principle and its users to participate in a holistic effort for the adoption of sound investment strategies via the fruitful exchange of views and ideas and better communication with regard to their respective role in capital markets.

scholarly journals Involving the Public in Data Linkage Research

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mhairi Aitken ◽  
Annette Braunack-Mayer ◽  
Felicity Flack ◽  
Kimberlyn M McGrail ◽  
Michael Burgess ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Engagement ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Consensus Statement ◽  
Data Linkage ◽  
Health Data ◽  
Advisory Council ◽  
Research Network ◽  
Plain Language ◽  
The Public ◽  
Data Intensive

Introduction“The Consensus Statement on Public Involvement and Engagement with Data-Intensive Health Research”, recent data breaches, and growing public awareness and controversy associated with secondary use of health data all highlight the need to understand what data sharing the public will support, under what circumstances, for what purposes and with whom. Objectives and ApproachThis symposium explores methods and findings from public engagement at all stages of data linkage research, beginning with short presentations (~6-8 minutes) on recent work: Mhairi Aitken: Consensus Statement - principles and an application using deliberative workshops to explore public expectations of public benefits from data-intensive health research Annette Braunack-Mayer/Felicity Flack: Surveys and citizens’ juries: Sharing government data with private industry Kim McGrail/Mike Burgess: Public deliberations on cross-sector data linkage, and combining public and private sources of data Alison Paprica: Plain language communication informed by Health Data Research Network Canada’s Public Advisory Council. Half the session will be spent interacting with the audience through live polling. The moderator will post a series of poll question such as “What is the most important thing for meaningful public engagement?” to prompt audience thinking on the topic. After the audience responses are revealed, panelists will share their own views about what they think is the best answer, and the main reason(s) behind their choice. The last 10-15 minutes of the session will be reserved for Q&A and dialogue with the audience. ResultsWe anticipate that this approach will surface emerging and tacit knowledge from presenters and the audience, and augment that through generative discussion. Conclusion / ImplicationsSession attendees will leave with a better understanding of the current state of knowledge and ways to talk about that understanding with other researchers, policy makers and the public.

scholarly journals GESTÃO PÚBLICA EM ACCONTABILITY: ESTUDO COM PREFEITURAS DO ESTADO DO CEARÁ

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Nathaly Maria Martins Freire ◽  
Douglas Willyam Rodrigues Gomes ◽  
Oderlene Vieira de Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
External Control ◽  
Public Power ◽  
Fiscal Responsibility ◽  
The Public ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Public Resources ◽  
Qualitative Work ◽  
Share Information

No mundo contemporâneo vem se tornando mencionado em maior frequência os controles nas contas públicas. O controle externo, torna-se uma ferramenta que auxilia o controle das despesas e que na Administração pública vem sendo efetivado pelos Tribunais de Contas. Justifica-se esse estudo pela importância do controle externo das contas públicas e o acesso às informações, afim de obter-se accountability fidedigna dos órgãos públicos. Assim, nota-se a utilidade de instituições que repassem as informações para os habitantes, que proporcionem transparência à gestão pública, que correspondam a reais agências de accountability, de transparência, que disponha respostas e realize prestação de contas dos recursos públicos. O presente artigo tem como objetivo geral identificar as contribuições que o Tribunal de Contas dos Municípios (TCM) traz para o processo de prestação de contas nos municípios objeto de pesquisa. No referencial foram abordados conceitos sobre accountability e sobre a Lei de Responsabilidade Fiscal (LRF). Metodologicamente é um trabalho de natureza bibliográfica, descritiva e qualitativa. Os resultados encontrados mostram que os TCM é um órgão que executa o processo de accountability nos municípios em que existe. Conclui-se que os TCM’s proporcionam fiscalização dos recursos patrimoniais, direcionados pelos administradores do poder público e controle do mesmo, a fim de facilitar o processo de prestação de contas entre a sociedade e a classe dos governantes municipais. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN ACCOUNTABILITY: A STUDY WITH CITY HALLS FROM CEARÁ STATE ABSTRACT In contemporary world the control of public accounts is being mentioned more frequently. The external control becomes a tool that assists the control of expenses and it is what the public administration has been done by Courts of Accounts. This study is justified by the importance of external control of the public accounts and the access to information, in order to obtain reliable accountability of public institutions. Therefore, it is noticed the usefulness of institutions that share information to the citizens, providing transparency to the public administration, which correspond to real agencies of accountability, of transparency, giving answers and performing accountability of public resources. This paper aims to identify the contributions that the Municipal Courts of Accounts (TCM) brings to the process of accountability in the cities that are object of this research. In the referential were used concepts about accountability and about the Fiscal Responsibility Law (LRF). Methodologically it is a bibliographical, descriptive and qualitative work. The results indicate that the TCM is an institution that executes the accountability process in the cities where it is present. It is concluded that TCMs provide supervision of patrimonial resources, directed and controlled by the administrators of public power, in order to facilitate the process of accountability among society and the class of municipal governors.

‘Blow Your Trumpets, Angels!’: Jeremy Goldstein and Truth to Power Café

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Jarrett
Keyword(s):  
Political Activism ◽  
Safe Space ◽  
The Political ◽  
Subjective Character ◽  
Call To Action ◽  
Art And Politics ◽  
The Public ◽  
Economic Context ◽  
Theatre Production ◽  
Public Nature

In the years since his death, some of the most important new areas of enquiry in Pinter studies have centred on the artistic works inspired by this major dramatist. One such endeavour is a new theatre production entitled Truth to Power Café. Truth to Power Café has been written and devised by the artist and producer Jeremy Goldstein. Goldstein’s work is a blend of poetry, performance and storytelling – an exploration of his own hidden history, and an articulation of his own ambivalent feelings. Even though Pinter contended that art and politics were irreconcilable, the argument of this paper is that Truth to Power Café represents an attempt by Goldstein to generate a synthesis between the artistic and the political: to reconcile the subjective character of art with the public nature of political activism; to mobilize the power of the theatre to enable the oppressed to break through the ritualistic ‘habits of lying’ that protect the powerful, and to discover a form of theatre where the audience can articulate themselves with ‘honesty’ and ‘precision’. Goldstein reconceptualizes the theatre as a ‘safe space’, where audience members can speak out against oppressive forces. Goldstein’s performance is a ‘call to action’. Each life testimony mediates between Goldstein’s lyrical psycho-biography, and the audience’s reception of his presentation, situating each regional performance of Truth to Power Café in its social, historical, and economic context. Goldstein achieves his objective by interweaving the personal, the private and the artistic with the public, the political and the historical.

Creative Choices: Changes to Australian Copyright Law and the Future of the Public Domain

2005 ◽  
Vol 114 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Moore
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Current Model ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Public Domain ◽  
Copyright Law ◽  
The Public ◽  
Creative Commons ◽  
Extended Duration

Changes to Australian copyright law introduced under the Australia–United States Free Trade Agreement will diminish the public domain, criminalise common copyright infringing practices and locally introduce significant portions of the controversial 1998 American Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This paper examines these imminent changes to Australian copyright law, with specific attention to the potential effects of the extended duration of copyright protection and the introduction of technological anti-circumvention measures. It argues that public domain-enhancing activities are crucial for sustaining cultural creativity and technological innovation, and discusses the potential role of the Creative Commons movement in establishing economically viable and legal alternatives to the current model of trade-oriented copyright reform.

The Place of the Prosecutor in Common Law and Civil Law Jurisdictions

2019 ◽  
pp. 138-163
Author(s):  
Katalin Ligeti
Keyword(s):  
Common Law ◽  
Civil Law ◽  
Executive Power ◽  
Public Prosecutor ◽  
Prosecutorial Discretion ◽  
The Public ◽  
European Public ◽  
Institutional Positioning ◽  
Centralization And Decentralization

This chapter focuses on the place of the public prosecutor in common law and civil law jurisdictions. It first describes the institutional positioning of public prosecutors, particularly vis-à-vis the executive power, before discussing their role and powers in regard to the pretrial phase. It then considers the increasing tendency to entrust the public prosecutor with quasi-judicial sanctioning powers in the context of out-of-court procedures (“prosecutorial adjudication”). It also examines the role of specialized law enforcement authorities in the exercise of investigative and prosecutorial functions, coercive measures and the need for judicial authorization, and prosecutorial discretion and alternatives to trial proceedings. Finally, it explains how independence, centralization and decentralization, legality and opportunity of prosecution, and the alternatives to trial proceedings have been translated to the supranational design of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO).

The Politics of Scotland’s Public Finances

2020 ◽  
pp. 511-542
Author(s):  
David Heald
Keyword(s):  
Economic Performance ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Fiscal Responsibility ◽  
Relative Population ◽  
Public Finances ◽  
The Public ◽  
Scottish Parliament ◽  
Fiscal Centralization

Politics and fiscal mechanics play interwoven roles in the public finances of devolved Scotland. Asymmetric devolution, in the context of divergent economic performance and relative population size and growth rates, has contributed to the longevity of the Barnett formula. Though criticized for either overfunding or underfunding Scotland, its resilience stems from its role as political convention in reducing overt conflict, and from maintaining the expenditure autonomy of the Scottish Parliament. The low level of self-financing from devolved taxes stimulated allegations that the Parliament lacked accountability and fiscal responsibility. Extended taxation powers advanced through the cautious Calman Commission to the rushed Smith Commission, and were driven by imperatives for a ‘counter-offer’ after the 2014 Independence Referendum. The early operation of the 2016 Scottish Fiscal Framework and the divergence of UK and Scottish income tax rates highlights the practical issues of devolved tax policy in the context of UK fiscal centralization. These developments have been driven by changes in Scottish political circumstances rather than by changes in fiscal fundamentals.

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