Public Financial Management for PRSP - Deutsches Institut für ...
Public Financial Management for PRSP - Deutsches Institut für ...
Public Financial Management for PRSP - Deutsches Institut für ...
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<strong>Public</strong> <strong>Financial</strong> <strong>Management</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>PRSP</strong> Implementation in Malawi<br />
habitualised. In such a context, there is the danger that these features of PFM<br />
are attributed to the system as such and there<strong>for</strong>e the <strong>for</strong>mal institutions, rules<br />
and procedures on which the whole process should be based are delegitimised<br />
and undermined in the process.<br />
These reflections go far beyond the purely administrative system: administrative<br />
action in modern democracies is democratically legitimised exclusively<br />
through its rule-boundedness. In the words of Luhmann: modern administrations<br />
generate “legitimation through procedures” (1969). If this process of<br />
genuine institutionalisation and habitualisation of <strong>for</strong>mal rules and procedures<br />
is threatened, it is not only a risk <strong>for</strong> the administrative system, but threatens<br />
the base of democracy in a country. This can happen, <strong>for</strong> example, through<br />
the prevalence of uncertainty, ad hoc behaviour and in<strong>for</strong>mal practices in<br />
PFM. It is important to keep this wider context in mind when assessing the<br />
features identified in PFM in Malawi. Schedler (2001) argues that institutional<br />
uncertainty is a constitutive element of the transition process towards<br />
democracy. There<strong>for</strong>e, uncertainty of the observed <strong>for</strong>m in Malawi’s PFM<br />
can also be interpreted as a central feature of the much wider phenomenon of<br />
democratic transition in sub-Saharan Africa.<br />
7.4 Conclusions: Consequences of uncertainty in<br />
Malawi’s PFM<br />
What are the consequences that result from these findings regarding PFM in<br />
Malawi? Among the most important consequences of uncertainty, ad hoc<br />
behaviour and in<strong>for</strong>mal practices at the different government levels of PFM<br />
are the following:<br />
— The effectiveness of the PFM system is limited; there<strong>for</strong>e, the implementation<br />
of strategic policies (e.g. PRS) through this system is<br />
unlikely.<br />
— En<strong>for</strong>cing accountability is extremely difficult in a PFM system such as<br />
Malawi’s.<br />
— The relevance of <strong>for</strong>mal rules and procedures <strong>for</strong> PFM in Malawi is<br />
limited and is being undermined in the process.<br />
Particularly in a context of political transition, decentralisation tends to further<br />
complicate the PFM system and procedures, thereby increasing the likeliness<br />
that the problems identified in this study are exacerbated to a considerable<br />
extent.<br />
German Development <strong>Institut</strong>e 143