Parliamentary transparency and accountability
What is the impact of transparency and accountability interventions to make parliaments and the legislative process more transparent?
Abstract
Question for this helpdesk report:
- What is known about the impact and effectiveness of transparency and accountability interventions which aim to make parliaments and the legislative processes more transparent?
- What knowledge gaps exist for future research?
This report presents and discusses what evidence exists about initiatives to promote transparency among legislators, members of parliament (MPs), and legislative processes and what impact this has had on legislative accountability. In this report we distinguish between 2 types of accountability: vertical (in which citizens play a direct role in holding the powerful to account) and horizontal (in which legislators hold the executive to account).
With regard to vertical accountability, the effects of 3 policy initiatives are reviewed:
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increased information about MPs including through ICTs
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disclosure of MPs’ assets
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disclosure of MPs’ election expenses and funders
Compared to more recent transparency initiatives, such as registers of beneficial ownership information, these initiatives have had a few years to generate some evidence about impact. In relation to horizontal accountability, the impact of transparency on the effectiveness of Public Accounts Committees is reviewed. The choice to focus on this Committee was also made on the basis of available research.
Citation
Mills, L. (2017). Parliamentary transparency and accountability. K4D Helpdesk Report. Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies., 15p
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