Auditing Good Government In Africa: Public Sector Reform, Professional Norms And The Development Discourse (executive Politics And Governance)

This book gives a comprehensive overview of the literature on development in Sub-Saharan Africa, and challenges the notions of African public officials presented there. It focuses on public audit institutions and offers rich empirical research results, which contradicts many assumptions made in the literature on development in Sub-Saharan Africa. "The inability of many democratic governments in Africa to govern effectively has been an important factor in the many problems that the continent and its constituent countries have faced over the past decades. The question for scholars has been in learning what has caused the endemic failure of public institutions throughout Africa and understanding how to create good government in the future of the continent. Strongly supported by empirical evidence, this book challenges the existing literature on the subject by breaking with the traditional notion among academics that the key to good government in Africa is through the creation of unique administrative structures, or at the very least developing significantly adapted foreign structures with an emphasis on the specific structure of African societies. Instead the author contrasts this notion with theories from other research fields suggesting that public officials are likely to be interested in following professional norms and that organizations generally strive to imitate each other, regardless of geographical location. This book presents rich original empirical research from the field of state audit in Sub-Saharan Africa where the above different theoretical approaches are empirically explored. The research results contradict many assumptions made in the literature on development and points to the importance of adding other dimensions, such as professional norms, to nuance the discussion of the future of the African continent."-- Provided by publisher Front Matter....Pages i-vii Introduction: Good Government and Development in Africa....Pages 1-28 The Dynamics of Public Sector Reform — Two Research Traditions....Pages 29-64 The African Context of Public Auditors....Pages 65-85 State Audit Conceptualized....Pages 86-105 The National Audit Offices of Botswana and Namibia....Pages 106-149 Dimensions of Development — Transnational Professional Communities....Pages 150-166 Conclusions....Pages 167-180 Back Matter....Pages 181-214