Public confidence in the integrity of the Government is indispensable to faith in democracy; and when we lose faith in the system, we have lost faith in everything we fight and spend for.
Adlai E. Stephenson Jr. (1900 – 1965)
The concept of accountability for public resources is key to our nation’s governing process and a critical element for a healthy democracy.
David Walker, cover letter to the 2003 Yellow Book
Trust in government in the U.S. has been declining for decades. Research shows that citizens’ trust in government is strongly correlated with their belief in whether “the democratic system is working.” Auditors have the potential to improve trust in government by contributing to accountability for effective, efficient, ethical, and equitable governance.
“An effective public sector audit function strengthens governance by materially increasing citizen’s ability to hold their government accountable.”
The Audit Role in Public Sector Governance, an issue paper developed by the IIA and endorsed by a wide group of professional associations including ALGA
“Legitimacy and trust are essential values in all government undertakings, and performance auditing may contribute to strengthening these values by producing public and reliable information on the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of government programs.”
INTOSAI’s Implementation Guidelines for Performance Auditing
Government Auditing Standards are built on the premise that all levels of government should be held accountable for the use of resources. Auditors enhance government accountability by independently assessing whether financial and other information is presented accurately and whether programs are carried out efficiently, effectively and economically. But people care about more than use of resources. The public wants to know whether people are treated fairly. Citizen distrust of government and fear of the abuse of government power is well documented. That’s why I’ve proposed adding equity along with efficiency, effectiveness and economy to the performance aspects described in Government Auditing Standards.
The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed, the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back….soon or late, it is ideas, not vested interests, which are dangerous for good or evil.
John Maynard Keynes, quoted in Robert Behn’s Rethinking Democratic Accountability.
“American cities have a long history of corruption and sometimes citizens take a perverse pride in a figure like Buddy Cianci, a flamboyant mayor now in federal prison but also credited with bringing the city of Providence, Rhode Island, back to life.”
I serve at the pleasure of the city council and under the council’s rules I’m to be evaluated annually. Any change in my status, including an increase in my salary, requires an ordinance or resolution publicly adopted by the council. A few years ago a resolution was introduced directing a modest increase in my salary. I went to the council chamber to watch the vote, confidently expecting it to be adopted, and was stunned to see the measure fail by five votes to seven.
“I never since I was born imagined that such a lot of poltroons and apes could be gathered together from the four corners of the Globe as Old Abe had succeeded in bringing together in his Cabinet.”
Large numbers of Americans are at risk of significant reduction in standard of living, if not in the next five to ten years, then certainly over the longer term. That’s what I concluded as I participated in the Comptroller General’s “Forum on the Nation’s Growing Fiscal Imbalance” held at GAO on December 2, 2004.
Funkhouser on Auditing