Making Governments Accountable

'This book considering the role of Public Accounts Committees and national audit offices provides a timely and original contribution to the literature. Its significance lies in its focus on matters of governance and accountability at the government level, an area that has not been well studied in the accounting domain. This particular text significantly extends our understanding by providing consideration of these institutions in regions across the globe and in continents that are, despite their importance to the global economy, very much under-researched. To add to the richness of the material, practitioners as well as academics have contributed to the book. This should be a 'must read' for researchers, students and practitioners working in the area.' - Jane Broadbent, Professor, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK 'This research monograph is an excellent analysis of the importance of public accounts committee and audit offices in making governments accountable in contemporary times. The selection of papers by leading international authors, provides a contemporary perspective that is geared to comprehend the current and future challenges and provides sign-posts for students, academics and public sector actors to strategically act on these challenges.' - James Guthrie, Professor, Macquarie University, Australia and University of Bologna, Italy 'This book gives a unique insight into the way in which public sector accounts committees and national audit offices contribute to accountability in the public sector. Its uniqueness particularly stems from the types of contributions, from both practitioners and academics, and covers practices in developed countries, such as the UK, Australia and Denmark as well as developing countries, like India, Bangladesh and Kenya.' - Jan van Helden, Emeritus Professor, University of Groningen, The Netherlands 'Democratic accountability for the authorisation and use of public monies is one of the bedrocks of our various systems of modern government. This book has produced an excellent collection of studies of these systems, covering some 14 countries/regions across the globe and even including Sweden which operates without a public accounts committee. Their expert analyses reveal the investigative roles of public accounts committees, how well they work with other accountability agents, their effectiveness and the benefits overall to good governance. With an informative introduction, this volume offers a definitive contribution which will be of interest to scholars of various disciplines, parliamentary practitioners, accountability actors, interest groups and the media, as well as the general reader interested in how modern-day accountabilities are exercised.' - John Wanna, Professor, Australian National University, Australia