One of the key ways that legislatures promote democratic governance and accountability for their constituents is by participating in the yearly process of scrutinizing and authorizing the executive’s budget proposal for government spending. As the national institution most closely linked to the population’s demands, legislatures have a special responsibility to engage with the budget process to ensure that it is transparent and reflects citizen priorities. For many countries on the path to democratization, creating institutional knowledge and processes that can sustain an effective, responsive budget process is a crucial step towards truly representative government.

Liberia’s 2023 election marked the country’s second democratic transfer of power in 70 years. As Liberia continues to make democratic progress, institutions such as the Legislature of Liberia and the Legislative Budget Office (LBO) play key roles in advancing government transparency and accountability to the public. As such, NDI has worked with the Liberian Legislature over several years to support the establishment of a framework for enhanced citizen participation in the budget process. In 2009, NDI and the House Democracy Partnership (HDP) supported the creation of the LBO, establishing a framework to support the legislature by drawing on the experience of the U.S. Congressional Budget Office to create an agency that produces independent analyses of budgetary and economic issues to support the Congressional budget process. 

Earlier this year, NDI initiated a year-long program focused on citizen engagement in the legislative budget process that aims to facilitate training and guidance for key members of the legislature on citizen inclusion. This program aims to work with new members of the legislature, the women’s legislative caucus, and members of the Ways, Means, and Finance Committee, which oversees taxes and banking institutions. Participants in the program also review the rules that control how the House runs to identify ways to enhance transparency and responsibility to citizens. 

In April, as a complement to these efforts, the Institute organized a HDP visit to Monrovia focused on budget participation. The House Democracy Partnership is a bilateral commission of the U.S. House of Representatives that works with and supports parliaments around the world to bolster democratic institutions. HDP delegates included a former appropriations U.S. House staffer, an analyst from the Congressional Budget Office, and a member of the Financial Scrutiny Unit for the Scottish Parliament. In order to get a full view of the current budget process, NDI and the HDP delegation met with key legislature leadership such as the Speaker of the House, the Leadership of the Senate, along with key budgetary leaders like the Secretariat of the Public Accounts Committee and the Legislative Budget Office (LBO). These meetings provided an important context and allowed the delegation to exchange knowledge and compare experiences. As a part of this, NDI staff engaged with staff members about HDP, previous partnerships, and how they can partner to support capacity building now. Delegates were also able to discuss in a specialized setting the role that each office plays in conjunction with each other, as well as identify areas of opportunity for budget oversight. 

After hearing from the Liberian Representatives about the current budget process, delegates spoke about the U.S. and Scottish budget participation and held a roundtable discussion about how to engage civil society organizations (CSOs) and constituents in the budget process. Members and staff discussed how community projects are advocated for and funded, as well as how to provide oversight on how that money is dedicated. The delegate from the US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) presented and held a discussion on best practices for her counterpart, the LBO, in supporting congressional budgeting. Here, she discussed CBO functions and held a thorough question and answer session about the independence and nonpartisan nature of the CBO, as well as its responsibility for estimating the costs of legislature bills. Members of the LBO discussed their resource capacity and current role and engaged with ideas for training and communication with members of the legislature. The last presentation focused on budget scrutiny and the role that the Liberia Legislature Information Services (LIS), a department that provides library, archival, and research services to the Legislature, can play. 

The program concluded with a reflection on lessons learned and a series of tailored small group meetings with the delegates. In the coming months, NDI will build on this visit for continued engagement with the Liberian Legislature which will include the facilitation of a roundtable discussion among budget committee members, the LBO, relevant policy committees, executive branch officials, and CSOs together in preparation for public budget hearings. The roundtable will be an opportunity to enhance communication between CSOs and public officials on matters related to the budget process and will help everyone envision how CSOs can engage in upcoming budget hearings, ensuring better participation and transparency. Following training sessions, NDI will provide ongoing guidance and technical assistance to legislators and CSOs to monitor the implementation of programs and projects directly supported by the budgetary process, with a particular focus on key issues as identified by Liberian civil society. The CSOs would brief legislative committees on their findings, enabling legislators to conduct followup, such as oversight hearings on budget implementation for which NDI will provide technical assistance. The Institute will also provide guidance to the CSOs on effectively communicating their findings to citizens.

In democracies around the world, legislatures play a uniquely powerful role in exercising scrutiny and oversight over the budget process, allowing for citizens’ priorities and needs to be reflected in governments’ yearly spending. However, legislatures can only wield this power to effectively promote transparency and government responsiveness if legislators engaged in the process have the tools and resources necessary to meaningfully engage citizens and translate that engagement into legislative change. Working with civil society and government officials in Liberia, NDI and HDP strive to help individuals and institutions involved in the budget process match their desire to democratize the process with the skills and partnerships necessary to do so. By focusing on fostering relationships and processes that encourage collaboration, discussion, and adaptation, NDI, HDP, and our partners believe that the process of capacity building and democratization surrounding the budget process can continue to evolve and improve in Liberia for years to come. 

Author: Cimrun Srivastava, Program Associate for the Democratic Governance team

NDI's engagement with this program is implemented with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the House Democracy Partnership (HDP).

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NDI is a non-profit, non-partisan, non-governmental organization that works in partnership around the world to strengthen and safeguard democratic institutions, processes, norms and values to secure a better quality of life for all. NDI envisions a world where democracy and freedom prevail, with dignity for all.