Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Beyond bean counting : diagnostics of public agency governance : Africa

2015; Volume: 2015; Issue: 58 Linguagem: Inglês

1607-2820

M. J. Balogun,

International Development and Aid

How can a government be sure that the goods and services produced by the public service are the same as those promised to the electorate? The honest answer is: it can't. Were all the beans to be duly counted, the government would still not be able to say confidently that the delivery matched the expectations. Statutory mandates can be rewritten by way of the prevailing rules regime and sundry implementation glitches, unanticipated bureaucratic behaviour, external political interference and civil society apathy. Tracking the interactions between wishes and horses - or between marching orders and compliance - is the remit of agency governance.