Accounting in Politics This book looks at the effectiveness of the 1999 restructuring of the UK through the establishment of the Scottish Parliament and the Assemblies for Northern Ireland and Wales, considering the process of devolution and its consequences on the key mechanisms of accounting and democratic accountability. Many of the chapters in this book examine whether devolu- tion is enhancing democratic accountability, or creating a fragmentary state with conflict and tensions between the Westminster government and the devolved bodies. The focus is on the financial mechanisms for democratic accountability both in the UK and in international comparator countries (New Zealand, Norway and the US). The book examines the turbulent pattern of relation- ships between central and devolved government and explores whether the present arrangements for devolution in the UK represent an end game, or whether they may be merely a stepping stone to a more fully fledged federal state. It is argued that the main thrust of many of the financial reforms in the UK has confounded, obfuscated and complicated the desire for democratic accountability. The four academics involved in the editing of this volume were involved in a research project in a major ESRC programme on devolution and consti- tutional change. The resulting work will be of interest to students and researchers who are engaged in examining UK devolution and, more particu- larly, those with a concern related to resource accounting and budgeting issues. It will also make fascinating reading for civil servants and politicians involved in the devolution process. Mahmoud Ezzamel is Professorial Fellow of Cardiff Business School. Noel Hyndman is Professor of Management Accounting and Director of Research in Accounting at Queen’s University Management School. Åge Johnsen is Professor of Public Policy at Oslo University College. Irvine Lapsley is Pro- fessor of Accounting and Director of The Institute of Public Sector Account- ing Research at the University of Edinburgh Management School. Routledge Studies in Accounting 1 A Journey into Accounting Thought Louis Goldberg Edited by Stewart Leech 2 Accounting, Accountants and Accountability Poststructuralist positions Norman Belding Macintosh 3 Accounting and Emancipation Some critical interventions Sonja Gallhofer and Jim Haslam 4 Intellectual Capital Accounting Practices in a developing country Indra Abeysekera 5 Accounting in Politics Devolution and democratic accountability Edited by Mahmoud Ezzamel, Noel Hyndman, Åge Johnsen and Irvine Lapsley Accounting in Politics Devolution and democratic accountability Edited by Mahmoud Ezzamel, Noel Hyndman, Åge Johnsen and Irvine Lapsley First published 2008 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” © 2008 selection and editorial matter, Mahmoud Ezzamel, Noel Hyndman, Åge Johnsen and Irvine Lapsley; individual chapters, the contributors All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Accounting in politics : devolution and democratic accountability / edited by Mahmoud Ezzamel ... [et al.]. p. cm. — (Routledge studies in accounting ; 5) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–0–415–42590–2 (hardback)—ISBN 978–0–203–92663–5 (e-book) 1. Decentralization in government—Great Britain. 2. Government accountability—Great Britain. I. Ezzamel, Mahmoud. JN329.D43A33 2008 352.4′390941—dc22 2007048248 ISBN 0-203-92663-3 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 978–0–415–42590–2 (hbk) ISBN 978–0–203–92663–5 (ebk) Contents About the authors vii Acknowledgements ix 1 Introduction 1 MAHMOUD EZZAMEL, NOEL HYNDMAN, ÅGE JOHNSEN AND IRVINE LAPSLEY 2 The Westminster model of government: challenges and tensions 8 ANDREW GAMBLE AND IRVINE LAPSLEY 3 The process of devolution in the UK 18 SIMONA SCARPARO 4 Accountability in the UK devolved parliament and assemblies 38 SIMONA SCARPARO 5 Accounting and democratic accountability in Northern Ireland 55 NOEL HYNDMAN 6 Accounting and democratic accountability in Scotland 74 IRVINE LAPSLEY AND ARTHUR MIDWINTER 7 Accounting and democratic accountability in Wales 92 MAHMOUD EZZAMEL 8 Financial management and democratic accountability: lessons from New Zealand 109 JONATHAN BOSTON AND CHRIS EICHBAUM 9 Accounting and democratic accountability in Norway 134 ÅGE JOHNSEN vi Contents 10 State government budgeting in the United States: choices within constraints 152 CHRISTOPHER G. REDDICK 11 Conclusion: accounting, devolution and democratic accountability 163 MAHMOUD EZZAMEL, NOEL HYNDMAN, ÅGE JOHNSEN AND IRVINE LAPSLEY Index 175 About the authors The members of the research team behind this international comparative project have backgrounds in public management, management accounting and public policy. Jonathan Boston is Professor of Public Policy and Deputy Director of the Institute of Policy Studies in the School of Government at Victoria Uni- versity of Wellington. He has been a member of the New Zealand Political Change Project as well as the Tertiary Education Advisory Commission. He has published widely in the fields of public management, tertiary edu- cation, social policy and comparative government. He is currently working primarily on global and national policy responses to climate change. Chris Eichbaum is a Senior Lecturer in Public Policy in the School of Gov- ernment at Victoria University of Wellington. He previously held public service positions in Wellington and Canberra, and has also worked as Ministerial Advisor and as a Senior Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister of New Zealand. His principal research interests are in political and policy advisory structures in executive government, the design of the institutions of central banking, governance and social democratic politics. Mahmoud Ezzamel is Cardiff Professorial Fellow, Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University. He has published widely in the areas of accounting in the public sector, the interface between accounting and social theory, management accounting, accounting history and corporate governance. Andrew Gamble is Professor of Politics at the University of Cambridge. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and joint editor of The Political Quarterly and New Political Economy. His books include Between Europe and America: The Future of British Politics, which was awarded the WJM Mackenzie Prize. Noel Hyndman is Professor of Management Accounting and Director of Research in Accounting at Queen’s University in Belfast, having previ- ously worked at the University of Ulster and the University of Ottawa in Canada. His research interests include performance measurement in viii About the authors not-for-profit organisations and reporting and control in public sector bodies. Åge Johnsen is Professor of Public Policy at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Oslo University College. He has previously worked at Agder Research in Kristiansand and at the University of Edinburgh. His research interests are performance management in the public sector, audit and control in political institutions, contracting out, the political economy of municipal amalgamations and democratic accountability. Irvine Lapsley is Professor of Accounting and Director of the Institute of Public Sector Accounting Research at the University of Edinburgh Man- agement School. He is editor of Financial Accountability & Management. He has advised a number of public sector organisations, including the Finance Committee of the Scottish Parliament. Arthur Midwinter is a Visiting Professor in the Institute of Public Sector Accounting Research at the University of Edinburgh. He was Budget Adviser to the Finance Committee of the Scottish Parliament, and has also advised the Local Government Committee. Previously he was a mem- ber of the Scottish Local Government Staff Commission for 1994–1997, and has acted as a consultant to several local authorities on finance, governance and Best Value Audit. Christopher G. Reddick is Associate Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Public Administration at the University of Texas at San Antonio. His main research and teaching interests are in all areas of public administration, with a focus on electronic government, public sector financial management and employee health benefits. Simona Scarparo is Associate Professor of Accounting at Warwick Business School, the University of Warwick. She was previously a Research Fellow and a Postgraduate Research Fellow within the Institute of Public Sector Accounting Research at the University of Edinburgh. Acknowledgements Much of the empirical work, particularly that relating to Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Norway, that is used as the basis for this book, has its origins in a meeting held in Edinburgh in 2000 where the idea for a CIMA- sponsored