Local Government Transparency Research Articles

Conceptual Model of The Role of Territorial Management Controller and Good Governance

Purpose: This literature review aims to explore the intersection of management control and good governance at the local level, specifically within territorial authorities. The central purpose is to understand how management control can act as a strategic tool to enhance transparency, efficiency, and accountability in local governance. Method/design/approach: Methodologically, the review involves a comprehensive exploration of academic databases to identify relevant articles, theses, and books on the subject. The synthesis of findings encompasses historical perspectives, theoretical frameworks, and empirical studies, providing a holistic overview of the complex relationship between management control and local governance. Results and conclusion: The review synthesizes findings that reveal the multifaceted nature of good governance, the historical evolution of governance concepts, and the intricate link between management control and organizational strategy. It highlights the various responsibilities of territorial management controllers, encompassing decision support, education, and mediation functions. Research implications: The review suggests future research directions and underscores the practical importance of adapting private sector tools to the public sector while considering the specificities of territorial governance. Socially, effective management control practices are seen as potential enhancers of citizen satisfaction, transparency, and accountability in local governance. Originality/value: The originality and value of the literature review lie in its comprehensive exploration of historical governance evolution, the conceptualization of good governance, and the integration of management control into the public sector. It provides a rich framework for studying their interaction in territorial communities, offering insights that can inform both research and practical applications in local governance.

Demokrasi, Kekuatan Politik dan Ukuran Pemerintah Daerah Terhadap Transparansi Pemerintah Daerah Provinsi di Indonesia

Purpose: The study aims to examine and analyze the effect of democracy, political strength and local government size on transparency of provincial local government in Indonesia. Methodology/Approach: The study used quantitative methods. The secondary data was collected from provincial local government in Indonesia from 2018 to 2020. Transparency of ptovincial was measured using the result of monitoring and evaluation of public information from the Commission of Information for Indonesia (Komisi Informasi Indonesia). Findings: The study finds that democracy and local government size had a positive effect on transparency of provincial local government in Indonesia and the political strength has no effect on transparency of provincial local government in Indonesia. Practical and Theoritical Contribution/Originality: This study contributes to add insight and knowledge in the field of accounting, especially in public sector accounting about the factors that influence transparency in the local government.

Meningkatkan Efisiensi Penatausahaan Belanja Daerah di Kabupaten Pangkajene Kepulauan

Purpose: This community service activity aims to improve the ability of revenue treasurers to manage regional expenditure in Pangkep Regency. Methodology/approach: The research method used in the implementation of this community service activity is the primary approach. This approach allows active cooperation between the service team and the parties involved, such as the revenue treasurer and local government, in designing, implementing, and evaluating the changes needed in local financial management. Results/findings: The outcomes of this service activity clearly showed a significant improvement in the treasurer's ability to manage local finances, as well as the overall local financial management process. Limitation: The research steps, including Initial Assessment, Joint Planning, Action Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation, Reflection and Improvement, and Dissemination of Results, helped ensure the success of this program. Contribution: This activity provides recommendations that have the potential to maintain and improve the ability of revenue treasurers in the future, with benefits that include increased efficiency and transparency in local financial governance, as well as more optimal contribution to the goal of practical regional autonomy.

The Impact of Local Governments’ Budget Transparency on Debt in Croatia

Abstract We investigate the impact of the budget transparency of local governments on debt using a panel data analysis of all 556 Croatian cities and municipalities over the 2014-2021 period. The analysis shows that increased budget transparency is associated with lower local government debt, i.e., budget transparency enables better public control of unnecessary debt. Additionally, regarding the legal regulation according to which higher own revenues enable higher borrowing, we examine the link between budget transparency and own revenues. The results show that local governments with higher budget transparency have higher own revenues, i.e., budget transparency can help local governments better control opportunistic borrowing and simultaneously increase their own revenues. Finally, we detect political budget cycles related to local government revenues and debt. This paper constitutes the first attempt to explore the effect of budget transparency on debt and own revenues in all local governments in one young democracy.

Implementation of Manokwari Regency DPRD Duties Regarding Supervision of Regional Government Performance Based on Law Number 23 of 2014 concerning Regional Government

Law no. 23 of 2014 concerning Regional Government provides a legal basis for the Regional People's Representative Council (DPRD) in supervising the performance of regional government. The Manokwari DPRD, as one of the legislative institutions at the regional level, has an important role in carrying out this supervisory task. This research aims to examine the implementation of the Manokwari DPRD's duties in monitoring regional government performance based on Law no. 23 of 2014. The research method used is descriptive analysis with a qualitative approach. Data was obtained through interviews with members of the Manokwari DPRD, document analysis, and direct observation of the Manokwari DPRD's work processes related to monitoring regional government performance. The research results show that the Manokwari DPRD has carried out its supervisory duties in accordance with the provisions of Law no. 23 of 2014. They supervise regional government performance through a number of mechanisms, such as commission meetings, plenary meetings, and examination of regional heads' accountability reports. They also play an active role in monitoring the use of regional budgets and evaluating regional government programs. However, there are several challenges in carrying out the supervisory duties of the Manokwari DPRD. One of them is limited resources, both in terms of manpower and budget. Apart from that, sometimes there are political obstacles that affect the independence of the DPRD in carrying out its supervisory function. Some DPRD members also face obstacles in accessing information needed for supervision. In the context of monitoring regional government performance, the Manokwari DPRD has great potential to increase accountability and transparency of regional government. To overcome the challenges faced, efforts are needed to strengthen the capacity of DPRD members, increase budget allocations, and ensure DPRD independence in carrying out supervisory duties. Apart from that, good cooperation between the DPRD and regional governments in providing access to the necessary information is also important. In conclusion, the implementation of the Manokwari DPRD's duties in monitoring regional government performance is based on Law no. 23 of 2014 has been running well, although there are still several challenges that need to be overcome. With the right efforts, the Manokwari DPRD can play a more effective role in increasing accountability and transparency of local government and improving the quality of public services for the people of Manokwari.

Transparency in Local Government: Spatial Transformation of Municipal Buildings in Turkiye

Transparency in Local Government: Spatial Transformation of Municipal Buildings in Turkiye

Pengaruh Faktor Politik dalam Pengungkapan Transparansi Informasi Website Pemerintah Daerah: Studi Empiris Kabupaten/Kota Pulau Jawa dan Bali Periode 2017-2020

This research aims to determine the effect of political factors such as political strength and political competition level on transparency information of local government websites in Java and Bali. The sampling techniques used was purpose sampling with a total of 122 local government websites using multiple linear regression with the help of IBM SPSS 23 software. This result shows that political strength and political competition level does not affect the transparency of local government. There is no effect on transparency when the pressure from public and political party were high. In addition, people must remain wary of information from local government to hold them accountable.

The Transparency Level of Local Governments in Indonesia: Does the Level of Financial Health Matter?

This study examines the impact of fiscal autonomy, capital expenditure for basic services, and local government investment on the transparency level of local government. In addition, this study includes local government financial health as a moderator in the association between the dependent and independent variables. This study employs a quantitative approach. Data are obtained through content analysis of the local government's official websites. The total sample of this study amounted to 349 observations collected from 2016 to 2019 and was selected by purposive sampling. The hypothesis test employs multiple linear regression analysis with the ordinary least square. The study suggests that fiscal autonomy is positively associated with the transparency level of local governments, capital expenditure for basic services is negatively associated with the transparency level of local governments, and local government investment is not associated with the transparency level of local governments. This study also finds that local governments' financial health has a role in strengthening the positive effect of local government investment on the transparency level. However, the local government's financial health weakens fiscal autonomy's positive effect on the transparency level of local government. Furthermore, the local government's financial health has no moderator in the association between capital expenditure for basic services and the transparency level of local government. The study result suggests that the Indonesia Ministry of Finance and the Indonesia Ministry of Home Affairs should boost the policies that encourage transparency in local governments and enhance the independence level to generate local revenues.

Non-Financial Reporting Through Social Media: Evidence from Spanish Local Governments

In recent years, different non-financial information models have arisen trying to complete the traditional financial reports prepared by companies and public administrations. The fundamental objective of these models has been to satisfy the interest of the stakeholders, which goes beyond the numbers included in the balance sheet and the income statement. In the case of the public sector, this is coupled with the discontent and distrust of citizens towards politicians and administrators of institutions, which makes it necessary to emphasize tools and strategies that can improve the transparency and accountability of administrations and restore citizen trust. This requires that economic, but also social and environmental information be provided and that it be comprehensible and clear to users. On the other hand, the fast growth of Web 2.0 and social media technology is facilitating the improvement of communication between local government and their citizens. Several authors have indicated the relevance of social media as a key tool to encourage citizen engagement by facilitating for communication, discussion, and coordination of public and social activities. This study is a first step toward understanding the use of social media tools by Spanish local governments for transparency purposes. In this vein, based on content analysis, this paper aims to investigate the extent of non-financial reporting through social media in Spanish municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. Although there are many social media platforms with different functionalities, participation/engagement is a common characteristic of all of them, such as openness, conversation, connectivity, and community. Specifically, this study is focused on social media such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. We have chosen these social networks because they are the ones generally implemented in Spanish municipalities: Facebook and Twitter are present in 95.9% of the municipalities and YouTube in 82.8%. This paper contributes to the debate on local government transparency and provides guidelines for developing appropriate social media strategies and policies.

The Determinants of Fiscal Transparency in Vietnamese Local Governments

There are few studies on the determinants of fiscal transparency in Vietnamese local governments, and most of them are qualitative studies of a few special cases and do not cover theoretically relevant factors changing over time. The main objective of this study was to examine the impacts of fiscal, demographic and political factors on fiscal transparency by using a fixed-effects model on panel data from 63 local governments in Vietnam from 2017 to 2020. The results indicate that local government expenditure, taxes and population size are positively associated with fiscal transparency, while fiscal surplus and intergovernmental grants negatively affect fiscal transparency. Our empirical findings emphasize the importance of citizens’ and policymakers’ roles in supervising Vietnamese local governments’ financial information, given the existence of fiscal illusions and agency problems.

Police and the prosecutor's effort on supervision social help during the covid-19 pandemic

The condition of the Covid-19 pandemic requires the country to focus more on the protection of citizens, especially regarding the use of social assistance. Meanwhile, supervision of the distribution of social assistance funds is very important to be improved in order to avoid various practices of irregularities that open loopholes for corruption. The research used in this research is juridical empirical. The results of research related to the supervision of social assistance carried out by the police and the prosecutor's office in this supervision continue to conduct monitoring/monitoring as a form of prevention. Legal counseling and information were carried out in terms of the use of Covid-19 funds as well as the right targeted social assistance distribution mechanism. The next step is to continuously coordinate between stakeholders. The next step is to continuously coordinate between stakeholders. The implication of this research is that cooperation, coordination and harmonization between the central government, regional governments and private institutions are needed to be right on target, effective and efficient and supported by a good, integrated, transparent and accountable system in the distribution of social assistance. There has not been an accurate record of recipients of social assistance, so the monitoring process by both the National Police and the Attorney General's Office is not running optimally. Furthermore, there is still a lack of local government transparency regarding social assistance.

Pengaruh Demokrasi, Kekuatan Politik dan Ukuran Pemeritah Daerah terhadap Transparansi Keuangan Pemerintah Daerah

This study aims to analyze the influence of democracy, analyze the influence of political power and analyze the influence of local government measures on the financial transparency of regency/city governments in Jambi Province. The population in this study was the Regency/City Regional Government in Jambi Province with a total sample of 44 samples during 4 years of observation (2017-2020). The data analysis technique used in this study is panel data regression analysis. The result of this study is that democracy has a significant effect on the transparency of local governments in districts/cities throughout Jambi Province. The high level of democracy in the Jambi regional government affects the financial transparency of the regional government of Jambi Regency/City. The high level of democracy in the Jambi regional government affects the financial transparency of the regional government of Jambi Regency/City. The first hypothesis (H1) which states that local government transparency has a significant positive effect on the transparency of local governments in districts/cities throughout Jambi Province is accepted. Political ideology has no effect on the transparency of local governments in districts/cities throughout Jambi Province. The high and low number of parties winning legislative elections has no effect on the transparency of local governments. Political ideology does not affect the degree of disclosure of information and transparency. The second hypothesis (H2) which states that political power does not have a significant effect on the transparency of local governments in districts/cities throughout Jambi Province is not accepted The size of local governments has a significant positive effect on the transparency of local governments of districts/cities throughout Jambi Province. The larger the size of local government, the more transparency of local governments will also increase. The third hypothesis (H3) which states that the size of the government has a significant positive effect on the transparency of local governments in districts/cities throughout Jambi Province is accepted.

Transparência nas dispensas de licitação em governo locais em situações de emergência

ABSTRACT Using the organizational paradox perspective, the study discusses how a context of national emergency modifies the propensity for transparency in tender waivers in municipalities. The empirical analysis indicates that there are tensions in the transparency of the public procurement process and that the public control literature should consider emergency and normal contexts differently. Emergency situations, in which budgetary funds are urgently allocated to emergency contracts, require greater transparency and control to reduce the risk of misuse of funds. Paradoxically, there is a reduction in transparency and a weakening of social control. The level of transparency of local governments under the same legislation varies according to the political support and understanding of the authorities in different legislatures and mandates, and between periods of emergency and normality. It is desirable for supervisory agencies and civil society to be aware of possible regressions in transparency practices in times of emergency, even for municipalities that are examples of transparency in times of normality. A content analysis was conducted on 1,528 tender waivers in 32 small municipalities in São Paulo State from 2019 to 2020. The level of transparency of the tenders was compared before and during the first year of the pandemic. Interviews were then conducted with public officials with experience in transparency practices in these municipalities, as well as with journalists and leaders of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), to validate the analysis on the transparency of the procurement process during the pandemic. Emergency situations can alter practices related to fiscal transparency in local governments when national authorities relax procurement rules. The study shows that the COVID-19 pandemic emergency led to reduced transparency in the procurement of supplies in some municipalities, particularly in contracts for supplies and services to cope with the pandemic crisis.

Participatory Budgeting and Fiscal Transparency of Local Governments : Moderating Effect of Political Competition

The goal of allowing citizens to participate in local government’s decision-making process is to enhance fiscal transparency and accountability. Under the accrual-based accounting system, however, mayors of local governments have substantial discretion in estimating accounting numbers, as well as political incentives to manage performance in order to appease voters. Accordingly, such participation may fail to achieve its intended objective. Utilizing a unique dataset of 220 Korean local governments’ accrual-based financial statements for 2015-2018, we examine the effect of citizens’ participation in the budgeting process on financial reporting quality and how the effect varies with political competition in local municipalities. We first do not find any significant association between the level of participatory budgeting institutions and financial reporting quality measured by the allowances for uncollectible taxes. This finding is consistent with the countervailing effects involved in the participatory budgeting system (i.e., citizens’ enhanced access to accounting information versus mayors’ opportunistic incentives). However, we find that this relation hinges on the level of municipal political competition, captured by the gap in votes obtained by the incumbent mayor and the second-place candidate in the election. The relation becomes significantly positive when political competition is weaker. This evidence implies that mayors’ political incentives and concerns about re-election dominate the monitoring role of citizen councilors, consequently reducing fiscal transparency. Overall, our results suggest that political competition dampens the positive effect of participatory budgeting on the financial reporting quality of local governments.

The Effect of Implementation of the Regional Government Information System (SIPD) on Regional Financial Transparency in Local Governments

The level of quality of regional financial planning is highly dependent on the availability of accurate and complete data and information. Changes in realizing the quality of regional financial planning and transparency have been made by the government. The Local Government Information System (SIPD) is the government's effort in the process of supervision and transparency to the public. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of SIPD implementation on regional financial transparency in the Batu City government. The population of this study is the Regional Apparatus Organization (OPD) in the form of an Agency / Office / Office. Based on the results of purposive sampling, the number of samples obtained was 20 OPDs. The data used is primary data. The analysis technique uses the PLS program. The results of this study indicate that SIPD has a very significant effect on regional financial transparency in the Batu City government. The better the quality of SIPD, showing good regional financial transparency to the public.

GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY AS UKRAINIAN TERRITORIAL COMMUNITIES’ ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FACTOR

The present paper substantiates the government transparency issue's importance as a fundamental principle of management and exercise of power on the local level. It must become a dominant one for Ukrainian urban territorial communities’ socio-economic development regulation under the condition of further steps implementation aimed at strengthening administrative and financial decentralization processes.We elucidate specific characteristics of government transparency measuring global practice, in particular, by applying a methodological approach to the city transparency index calculation, which has been conducted since the end of the 20th century by the NGO "Transparency International".We formulated and tested hypotheses about the relationship presence between government transparency level, income from the payment of personal income tax and local tax by the population, as well as the number of people who voted for public budget projects. We chose Ukrainian cities with different ranking positions by the government transparency level to conduct a measurement.The study proved that the local government transparency level is an important factor in Ukraine’s urban territorial communities’ socio and economic development. We defined that cities’ industrial specialization and their economic diversification level do not influence significantly the correlation density between government transparency level and local budgets' revenues. Additionally, most cities, regardless of their size, are characterized by a high correlation between indicators of transparency and the public activity of residents. Also, we observed a tendency for citizens’ activity to rise in the most investigated communities.The obtained results demonstrated the need to choose a longer time lag to test the proposed hypotheses. Nevertheless, the proven hypotheses made it possible to identify problems in ensuring the transparency of territorial communities’ authorities and to formulate proposals for improving public administration efficiency.

Transparency in Local Government in Vietnam

While it is only one of the features of good local governance, the transparency of local government promotes citizen participation, enhances accountability, enforces the rule of law, social justice association and control corruption. Therefore, institutional reform to enhance the transparency of local government is one of the important issues that Vietnam has attached great importance to in recent years. Based on a theoretical framework and data from the Provincial Public Administration and Governance Performance Index (PAPI), this paper analyzes the transparency of local government in Vietnam from 2011 to present. Research results show that although the transparency of local government in Vietnam has improved, it still does not meet the requirements. Although the construction and improvement of legal institutions to improve the transparency of local governments has been highly valued, the effectiveness of the implementation of legal institutions in this area is still not high. Local government transparency is tied to citizen participation and government accountability, but not to other aspects, such as public administrative procedures, quality of public services and control corruption.

DEVELOPMENT OF E-GOVERNMENT UNDER CONDITIONS OF DIGITALIZATION

The article analyzes the scientific positions on the development of e-government in the context of digitalization. It is argued that e-government is an important factor in the activities of the modern state and increasingly absorbs into people's lives. Based on the analysis of theoretical approaches to understanding the concept of "e-government", it is determined that e-government is a form of public administration that promotes openness, efficiency and transparency of both public authorities and local governments through the use of information telecommunication technologies aimed at meeting the needs of citizens. Attention is paid to the essence of digitalization as a driving force of innovation management. It is concluded that e-government in digitalization provides an opportunity to change approaches to the nature of public authorities, make their activities more transparent and public, and proposed a number of measures to develop e-government in digitalization.

Under Construction: Local Government Transparency in a New Democracy

The paper argues that understanding the apparent failure of new democracies in establishing transparency as a norm requires a look at how the meaning of transparency is constructed. The argument is illustrated by analysing how local government transparency is shaped in a multi-actor process, under the influence of international policy discourse and domestic factors. Directed qualitative analysis (N = 144) was applied on documents issued by the central government, local governments and third sector organisations. The aspects of this process – sometimes not so positive effects of external pressure, the emphasis on standardisation, and the limited policy capacity of all actors – are identified as relevant to the establishment of transparency as a norm.

Gender (dis)balance in local government: how does it affect budget transparency?

Balanced gender representation in local political life has been a subject of increasing interest to researchers. This paper, based on a unique database, analyses the representation of women in local representative and executive bodies and its impact on budget transparency (BT) in Croatian local governments. The panel analysis shows that a greater representation of women in local councils has a positive effect on the level of local government digital budgetary reporting. This is in line with gender literature settings and theories that explain BT, suggesting that the greater representation of women helps reduce information asymmetry, increase transparency, and promote government legitimacy. We do not find significant results in regard to women’s representation in local executive functions. A particularly indicative policy implication suggests the aim of increasing the gender balance in local political spheres, especially when deciding on good governance practices and fiscal disclosure requirements.