The Budget Laws of Sweden and South Africa - Research Paper Example

The case of South Africa and Sweden are especially noted.According to Lienert(2005), many countries have adopted comprehensive and deep reforms as well new and amended laws to transform the role of the state and the budgeting processes that are involved in the working of the state. The issues that have been highlighted include fiscal transparency and political polarization, performance-oriented budgeting and financial accountability. Modifications in the legal framework that have changed the role of the state and the budget processes involved or supporting it could be highlighted yet these modifications seem to have been strongest in countries that rely on laws and decrees to introduce changes The emphasis is on performance-oriented budgeting and fiscal transparency and considering that the legal framework does help in shifting emphases to the process of budgeting and methodology, the central role of the legal aspect could be well documented and examined.

However, there are many obstacles to the proper working of the legal framework and its implementation to enhance budgeting and these could be differences between countries in terms of political systems and administrative arrangements or even legal cultures that could prevent the budgeting process from being efficient and transparent. Alt James et al discussed the effects of fiscal transparency along with political polarization on the prevalence of electoral cycles in fiscal balance. Such cycles are usually thought to be present in weak or new democracies although Alt James et al (2006) prove that such electoral cycles could be present in advanced and more industrialized economies as well.

The focus on fiscal transparency along with budgeting transparency would bring about questions on the nature of the economy and the kind of legal framework such economies have.