Stapenhurst, RickSahgal, VinodWoodley, WilliamPelizzo, Riccardo2012-06-182012-06-182005-05https://hdl.handle.net/10986/8244In 2002, David McGee wrote a comprehensive report on two important elements in the system of public financial accountability, namely the office of the Auditor General and the parliamentary oversight committee commonly referred to as the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). The purpose of the present paper is to deepen McGee's analysis of PACs. In particular, the authors define PAC success and identify those factors that affect PAC peformance. They use data that were collected by the World Bank Institute in 2002, when a survey questionnaire was sent to 51 national and state/provincial parliaments in Commonwealth countries in Asia and Australasia, and Canada and the United Kingdom. The authors find that the institutional factors which most account for the success of the PACs are the focus on government's financial activity rather than its policies, the power to investigate all past and present government expenses, the power to follow up on government action in response to its recommendations, and its relationship with the Auditors General.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCOUNTACCOUNTABILITYACCOUNTINGACCOUNTING POLICIESACCOUNTSADMINISTRATIVE ISSUESAUDIT REPORTSAUDITINGAUDITING STANDARDSAUDITORSAUDITSAUTHORITYBILLSBUDGET PROCESSCABINETCABINETSCENTRAL GOVERNMENTCIVIL SERVANTSCOMMITTEE HEARINGSCOMMITTEE MEETINGSCOMPLIANCE AUDITINGCONSENSUSCONSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTSDEMOCRACYDEMOCRATIC COUNTRIESELECTIONELECTIONSEXECUTIONEXECUTIVE BRANCHEXECUTIVE GOVERNMENTEXECUTIVE POWERFINANCIAL INFORMATIONFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL MANAGEMENTFINANCIAL REPORTINGFINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDSFINANCIAL STATEMENTSFISCALFREEDOMGOOD GOVERNANCEGOOD PRACTICEGOOD PRACTICESGOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITYGOVERNMENT ACTIONGOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATIONGOVERNMENT INFORMATIONGOVERNMENT MINISTERSGOVERNMENT OFFICIALSGOVERNMENT PROGRAMGOVERNMENT PROGRAMSGOVERNMENT'S BUDGETHOUSE OF COMMONSINTEREST GROUPSINTERNAL AUDITJURISDICTIONSLEGAL TRAININGLEGISLATIONLEGISLATIVE COMMITTEESLEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHTLEGISLATIVE POWERLEGISLATORSLEGISLATURELEGISLATURESMAJORITIESMEDIAMINISTERSMOTIONSNATIONSPACPARLIAMENTPARLIAMENTARIANPARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRSPARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEESPARLIAMENTARY LIBRARIESPARLIAMENTARY OVERSIGHTPLURALISMPOLICY ISSUESPOLICY RESEARCHPOLITICAL ACCOUNTABILITYPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOLITICAL FACTORSPOLITICAL PARTIESPOLITICIANSPROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATIONPROVINCIAL PARLIAMENTSPUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITYPUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONPUBLIC EXPENDITUREPUBLIC EXPENDITURESPUBLIC HEARINGSPUBLIC RESOURCESPUBLIC SECTORPUBLIC SECTOR MANAGEMENTPUBLIC SERVANTSPUBLIC SERVICEPUBLIC SERVICESPUBLIC SPENDINGREPORTINGREPRESENTATIVESREVENUE ADMINISTRATIONSELECT COMMITTEESELLINGSTATE ENTERPRISESSTATE PARLIAMENTSSTATESTATE/PROVINCIALSTATE/PROVINCIAL PARLIAMENTSSTATUTORY AUTHORITIESTRANSPARENCYWILL OF THE PEOPLEWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-3613