In presidential regimes the distribution of public resources and the definition of public policies are products of a joint decision from the executive and legislative powers. Similarly, the oversight and monitoring of the use of public resources and the implementation of policies is a shared responsibility. The executive branch oversees agencies through internal institutional controls (like the office of the comptroller general), while the legislative branch is supported by a diverse set of institutional tools such as the creation of special oversight committees or the support of specific institutions for the auditing of public expenditures. The supreme auditing (fiscalización superior) refers to the actions legislators carry out in order to monitor the use of public resources and the adequate implementation of public policies. Usually, these tasks are delegated to a Supreme Audit Institution (SAI).
In Mexico, there is one SAI at the federal level (the Auditoría Superior de la Federación, ASF) and 32 local SAIs. The ASF was created by constitutional reform in December of 2000, since then, the majority of the Mexican states have reformed the composition and function of the local SAI.
Some of the reforms approved by local legislatures seem to lead the oversight and government auditing toward the correct direction; however, we know little about the real practice of audit procedures, the daily function of local SAIs, or even the real consequences that SAIs and their reforms have had in the functioning and accountability of local governments.
The goal of this project is to broaden our knowledge of government accountability by looking at the functioning and operation of local SAIs in Mexico. In order to gather as much information as possible, the project was organized in two research strategies:
- The first strategy was a comparative analysis of all Mexican states based on a questionnaire of closed questions. With this original data we present an analysis of five aspects of the function of local SAIs in Mexico: Institutional attributes, organizational and operational characteristics, and aspects related to the accountability of the SAI.
- The second strategy was to conduct nine case studies about the auditing of public accounts of central governments for 2004 and 2005. The cases included were: The Federal District and the states of Aguascalientes, Campeche, Chiapas, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Morelos, Nuevo León, Sinaloa and Sonora.
With this webpage the Center for US-Mexican Studies (USMEX) offers the interested public the main findings of this research project in twelve working papers and an introductory document. The working papers posted in this website offer original and valuable information about the real operation of SAIs in Mexico and set an agenda for future research.
As mentioned above, the goal of this research project and its working papers is to contribute to the debate about the supreme auditing and legislative monitoring which are fundamental to secure government accountability.
Please contact Alejandra Ríos Cázares, coordinator of this project, if you need further information about this project or have a suggestion.
The project “Government Accountability in Mexico: An Evaluation of Supreme Auditing Institutions in Mexico” was possible thanks to the generous help from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. With this research, the USMEX concludes an effort in the analysis of the administration of justice in Mexico that began in the fall of 2003 with the Project on Reforming the Administration of Justice in Mexico (PRAJM). In September of 2005, the PRAJM was transformed into the Justice in Mexico Project coordinated by the Trans-Border Institute at the University of San Diego.
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