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To describe the initiatives of the Scottish Parliament in the field of e‐democracy and assess the prospects for future developments.
Abstract
Purpose
To describe the initiatives of the Scottish Parliament in the field of e‐democracy and assess the prospects for future developments.
Design/methodology/approach
Analysis and review.
Findings
The Scottish Parliament has always seen the internet as one of the major mechanisms for engaging Scottish citizens in the Parliament's business and activities. Its most successful initiatives have been the e‐petitioning system, the webcasting of proceedings, the discussion forums and the MSP video diaries.
Research limitations/implications
Relevant to parliaments and other representative institutions.
Practical implications
Simple implementable tools are described that have been shown to be effective.
Originality/value
Few parliaments have been able to put theory into practice in a short time. Applicable to other small parliaments with limited resources wishing to enhance democratic participation by electronic means.
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This study aims to examine the participation of the Parliament of Tanzania in the fight against corruption in the country.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the participation of the Parliament of Tanzania in the fight against corruption in the country.
Design/methodology/approach
A desk-based research approach based on the review of documents and legal instruments was used.
Findings
The results of this study show that the Parliament of Tanzania has a chequered performance in fighting corruption. While it has passed several anti-corruption-related laws and in some respects succeeded to hold a few government officials accountable for the abuse of public office, there is little evidence to demonstrate its contribution at fighting this conundrum. Factors contributing to this deficiency include irresponsiveness to corruption allegations involving Members of Parliament, parliament’s remote oversight of the anti-corruption agency and shrinking democratic space in the parliament.
Practical implications
Tanzania has relatively high corruption levels. The country’s Development Vision 2025 envisages a nation free of corruption. Hence, efforts are needed from public and private sectors to overcome this conundrum. The parliament holds a special place in that fight. Through its representation, legislative and oversight roles and powers, parliament has a wider opportunity to strengthen anti-corruption in the country. This study shows that the Parliament of Tanzania has not been very effective in that regard. It offers suggestions to strengthen the parliament’s position and engagement to fight corruption.
Originality/value
There is scanty literature on the role of the Parliament of Tanzania in fighting corruption. This study is seminal, as it investigates the Tanzanian anti-corruption arsenal from a crucial organ that is vested with constitutional powers to make laws and oversee the executive and its agencies.
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Laurence Ferry and Henry Midgley
The study focusses on explaining why advocates for reform to state audit in the United Kingdom (UK) in the early 1980s, focussed on improving the links between the new National…
Abstract
Purpose
The study focusses on explaining why advocates for reform to state audit in the United Kingdom (UK) in the early 1980s, focussed on improving the links between the new National Audit Office (NAO) and Parliament, rather than on traditional notions of audit independence. The study shows how this focus on the auditor's link to Parliament depends on a particular concept of liberty and relates this to the wider literature on the place of audit in democratic society.
Design/methodology/approach
Understanding the issue of independence of audit in protecting the liberties and rights of citizens needs addressed. In this article, the authors investigate the creation of audit independence in the UK in the National Audit Act (1983). To do so, the authors employ a neo-Roman concept of liberty to historical archives ranging from the late 1960s to 1983.
Findings
The study shows that advocates for audit reform in the UK from the 1960s to the 1980s were arguing for an extension to Parliament's power to hold the executive to account and that their focus was influential on the way that the new NAO was established. Using a neo-Roman concept of liberty, the authors show that they believed Parliamentary surveillance of the executive was necessary to secure liberty within the UK.
Research limitations/implications
The neo-Roman republican concept of liberty extends previous studies in considering the importance of audit for public accountability, the preservation of liberty and democracy.
Practical implications
Public sector audit can be a fundamentally democratic activity. Auditors should be alert to the constitutional importance of their work and see parliamentary accountability as a key objective.
Originality/value
The neo-Roman concept of liberty extends previous studies in considering the importance of audit for public accountability, preservation of liberty and democracy.
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“All things are in a constant state of change”, said Heraclitus of Ephesus. The waters if a river are for ever changing yet the river endures. Every particle of matter is in…
Abstract
“All things are in a constant state of change”, said Heraclitus of Ephesus. The waters if a river are for ever changing yet the river endures. Every particle of matter is in continual movement. All death is birth in a new form, all birth the death of the previous form. The seasons come and go. The myth of our own John Barleycorn, buried in the ground, yet resurrected in the Spring, has close parallels with the fertility rites of Greece and the Near East such as those of Hyacinthas, Hylas, Adonis and Dionysus, of Osiris the Egyptian deity, and Mondamin the Red Indian maize‐god. Indeed, the ritual and myth of Attis, born of a virgin, killed and resurrected on the third day, undoubtedly had a strong influence on Christianity.
Mudher Abullraheem Abdulhameed
This study aims to deal with the evaluation of institutional development and effectiveness of regional parliaments; it provides a scientific contribution to the development of the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to deal with the evaluation of institutional development and effectiveness of regional parliaments; it provides a scientific contribution to the development of the field of parliamentary studies by developing a set of indicators to present a parameter for evaluating regional parliaments with application to the Arab Parliament. The study concluded with the development of a parameter of 35 indicators to measure institutionally, efficiency and effectiveness of the institution, with application to the Arab Parliament, as well as developing an integrated assessment of the strengths and weaknesses in the institutional aspects and organizational efficiency.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is predicated on the principle of institutional approach and the systems analysis. The curriculum is applied to the Arab Parliament as an institution to quantify efficiency and efficacy according to the implementation of a set of proposed practical indicators. The study additionally applies both Huntington’s institutional standards such as Adaptability, Involution, Autonomy and Coherence, as well as the indicators of institutions efficiency according to PrePanti such as Openness, Reception (R), Autonomy (A), Balance (B), Congruence (C), Internal Efficacy (I), Reformulation (R) and Roles (R), which refer to the first seven Latin letters “First RABCIRR”.
Findings
The researcher endeavored to answer the main questions; How to quantify the degree of institutionalization, its impact on the efficiency and efficacy of regional parliaments. The researcher’s approaches and the standards of efficiency and efficacy figured a comprehensive set of indicators that composed an integrated parliamentary standard to assess the degree of institutionalization, efficacy and efficiency of regional parliaments as a scientific contribution based on the Arab Parliament that can be applied to all regional parliaments.
Originality/value
This research is an attempt to create a Parliamentary Index to complement the previous scientific initiatives and efforts in developing such an index, which consists of 35 indicators and its application to the Arab Parliament. This research uses the principles of institutional approach, system analysis methodology and efficiency. The approach is applied to the Arab Parliament as a regional parliament to measure efficiency and effectiveness by applying a set of the proposed indicators.
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States that legislatures act as important debates in the public eye and that few are real bodies for policy making, linking people and the government. Insists, though, that they…
Abstract
States that legislatures act as important debates in the public eye and that few are real bodies for policy making, linking people and the government. Insists, though, that they are, at national and lower level, institutions of importance. Looks at the relationship between the EU and national parliaments. Addresses the above and also the law‐making processes within the EU. Lists four main questions, which are expanded in detail in the article.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the new Budget Act (2015) and the new budget cycle influence and were influenced by the contextual environment of the Tanzanian…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the new Budget Act (2015) and the new budget cycle influence and were influenced by the contextual environment of the Tanzanian parliament and how this changed parliamentarians’ (MPs) budgetary oversight roles.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper employed analytical concepts explained in the contextual framework proposed by Alsharari et al. (2015) to explore changes in budgetary oversight roles after the implementation of the reforms. Interviews, video clips and document review were employed in the data collection. Data were analyzed using the thematic approach.
Findings
The values of the new Budget Act and the new budget cycle were in conflict with the prevailing institutions, political and power aspects. The MPs modified a few provisions in the new Budget Act and in the new budget cycle. Legitimating budgetary oversight roles as a result of institutional pressure emerged but stopped. Although there was a change in MPs formal powers and MPs involvement in budgetary oversight, there was stability as the change was ineffective.
Research limitations/implications
The paper only extracted relevant aspects of the contextual framework, which were sufficient to achieve the objective of the paper. Moreover, the study was conducted only a few years after the implementation of the reforms. Therefore, it might be too early to reach conclusions. Yet, the paper serves as the basis for further studies investigating changes in budgetary oversight roles after the implementation of the reforms.
Practical implications
In order for the parliament to hold the government accountable to the electorate, there is a need for reforming the nature of the government system, improving MPs capacity, harmonizing Budget Act with prevailing constitution and demonstrating the political will to use MPs’ formal powers. The findings suggest that effective change in budgetary oversight by focusing on formal institutions only is unlikely.
Originality/value
This paper provides a more robust explanation on how the integration of institutional, political and power aspects shape budgetary oversight roles in parliaments. It is the first paper to explore accounting change using the contextual theoretical framework in an organization of a parliamentary nature. The paper responds to Kim’s (2018) call for conducting case studies to explore changes in budgetary oversight roles by investigating potential attributes of institutions when operating in practice.
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Capacity development in fragile environments in Africa has often proven to be a complex undertaking. This has largely been because of existing knowledge gaps on what exactly…
Abstract
Capacity development in fragile environments in Africa has often proven to be a complex undertaking. This has largely been because of existing knowledge gaps on what exactly causes fragility of states, the economy and society. The liberal peace development model that generally informs post‐conflict reconstruction and capacity development has a limited conception of fragility by narrowly focusing on the national dimensions of the problem, promoting donor‐driven solutions, emphasizing minimal participation of beneficiary actors in the identification and prioritization of capacity development needs, and by subcontracting the design and management of projects and programs. The resulting capacity development impact has generally been disappointing. In the absence of homegrown strategic plans, stakeholder participation and ownership, international development partners have all too often addressed capacity gaps by financing training, supply of equipment and professional exchanges of parliamentarians and parliamentary staffers. These efforts usually achieved their presumed number targets but tended to ignore addressing the larger issues of political economy within which capacity development take place. However, the recent re‐conceptualization of parliamentary capacity development as a development of nationally owned, coordinated, harmonized, and aligned development activities seems to be gaining growing attention in Africa. As the experience of Rwanda eloquently demonstrates, capacity development is essentially about politics, economics and power, institutions and incentives, habits and attitudes – factors that are only partly susceptible to technical fixes and quantitative specifications. These structural factors have to be negotiated carefully and tactfully.
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J.B. Poole and Angela M. Gould
Our joint theme is information for Parliament and you will be getting two papers for the price of one—which must be some sort of a bargain in these inflationary times. Our hope is…
Abstract
Our joint theme is information for Parliament and you will be getting two papers for the price of one—which must be some sort of a bargain in these inflationary times. Our hope is that our separate contributions will complement each other to give the evening some completeness it might otherwise lack. I say only ‘some completeness’ because we in the Commons Library are all too aware that our part in the job of providing information for Parliament is but one part of a complex system.
The Scottish Parliament was founded on principles of openness and accessibility and signalled the potential for a new style of politics after devolution. In the aftermath of…
Abstract
Purpose
The Scottish Parliament was founded on principles of openness and accessibility and signalled the potential for a new style of politics after devolution. In the aftermath of allegations of political sleaze early in the life of the new institution, the Standards Committee of the Scottish Parliament conducted an inquiry into the registration of lobbyists. This process attracted much comment and criticism from public affairs practitioners and the Scottish media. Based on original empirical research, numerous interviews and first‐hand observation, the purpose of this paper is to offer a response to some of these criticisms.
Design/methodology/approach
The research reported here is based upon extended fieldwork and observation of the developing lobbying industry around the new Scottish Parliament, spanning the period from late 1998 until summer 2003. It involved some 73 interviews with various corporate and voluntary sector lobbyists, public servants and elected representatives. It also draws on participant observation at more than 70 official, public and private meetings for those involved in public affairs in Scotland. In addition, the paper monitored the popular and specialist media in Scotland for news and analyses of issues relating to lobbying at the new Parliament, undertook focus group research to test public opinion on the issue of registration, designed and administered an e‐mail survey of public servants in the USA and Canada charged with maintaining registers of lobbyists and conducted archival research at the Scottish Executive's library at Saughton House in Edinburgh.
Findings
The paper suggests the efforts by parliamentarians to regulate their relations with lobbyists need to be grounded in principles that apply to all outside interests seeking to influence the democratic process.
Originality/value
The paper challenges the assertions that lobbying is misunderstood by elected representatives and that the lobbying industry is entirely committed to increasing transparency.
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