Public Access to Local Budgets: Making Local Government Budget Documents Easily Available to Citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Public Access to Local Budgets: Making Local Government Budget Documents Easily Available to Citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Author(s): Mirna Jusić
Subject(s): Politics, Information Architecture, Governance, Government/Political systems, Public Finances, Fiscal Politics / Budgeting, Corruption - Transparency - Anti-Corruption
Published by: Analitika – Centar za društvena istraživanja
Keywords: governance; government; budget; local budgets; access; budget documents; BiH;
Summary/Abstract: Easy access to and the availability of budget documents is considered to be a key indicator of transparent budgeting practices. In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), important budget documents at the local government level are frequently not easily available to citizens. Some documents that would facilitate understanding of budgetary matters among citizens – such as citizens budgets – are not produced at all. Such practice can contribute to citizen distrust and lower political participation, reflected in a lower voter turnout. Moreover, a lack of transparency can weaken oversight of local government performance. Although local government budgeting in BiH certainly needs to undergo substantial reform in the long run to achieve greater transparency, there are a number of smaller-scale reforms that policymakers in BiH can focus on to yield more accessible, more transparent budgets as a first step towards such reform.

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