As contributing authors of a new book, Legislative Oversight and Budgeting, John Johnson, NDI director for governance programs, and Robert Nakamura, former NDI resident country director in Nigeria, explore oversight and budgeting challenges facing legislatures around the world.

Using case studies from numerous countries, including the Czech Republic, Israel, Italy, Poland and South Africa, the book brings together knowledge from scholars and practitioners to explore oversight from a variety of perspectives and legislative settings.

In the introduction, Nakamura argues that of the three core functions of legislatures – representation, lawmaking and oversight – oversight is perhaps the most important but is the least studied and least practiced. The book’s contributing scholars and experts insist that oversight is a vital aspect of democratization and good governance.

In Chapter 10, Johnson explores the use of budget offices in government oversight. Those that are independent and nonpartisan, such as the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, he said, can effectively serve the legislature by providing objective information, analysis and oversight. The chapter incorporates case studies from the United States, the Philippines, Uganda, Korea, Nigeria and Kenya. Johnson concludes that independent, nonpartisan budget offices can greatly enhance the credibility of a government, and make the budget process more transparent and easier to understand.

Read excerpts of Legislative Oversight and Budgeting:

• By Robert Nakamura:
  Introduction (*.pdf)

• Featuring John Johnson:
  Chapter 10 (*.pdf)

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Published on Dec. 22, 2008