Hostname: page-component-669899f699-8p65j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-01T01:13:03.369Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Democratic Accountability in Times of Crisis: Executive Power, Fiscal Policy and COVID-19

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2021

Maritza Lozano ,
Michael Atkinson  and
Haizhen Mou Open the ORCID record for Haizhen Mou [Opens in a new window]
Maritza Lozano
Affiliation:
Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada
Michael Atkinson
Affiliation:
Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada
Haizhen Mou*
Affiliation:
Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We examine the performance of four parliamentary democracies – Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK – as they confront the need for a substantial fiscal policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our research covers the period 1 January 2020 to 30 June 2020. We score the four countries on nine components of democratic accountability using Mark Philp's distinction between formal and political accountability. We conclude, first, that to appreciate the nuanced character of accountability, it is important to have a set of operational measures that identify specific aspects of performance. Second, preparation is important for resilience: countries that demonstrated strong accountability before the pandemic maintained relatively high accountability standards during the crisis; weaker accountability mechanisms showed less resistance to the expanding power of the executive. Finally, it is easier to be accountable when outcomes are favourable, but favourable outcomes include adherence to the norms of democratic accountability.

Keywords

democratic accountabilityparliamentary democraciesfiscal policyCOVID-19
Type
Article
Information
Government and Opposition , Volume 58 , Issue 1 , January 2023 , pp. 39 - 60
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Government and Opposition Limited

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Aiello, R (2020) House Won't Resume Regular Sittings Until the Fall, as MPs Opt for Hybrid Meetings. CTV News, 26 May. www.ctvnews.ca/politics/house-won-t-resume-regular-sittings-until-the-fall-as-mps-opt-for-hybrid-meetings-1.4955324.Google Scholar
Albert, R and Pal, M (2018) The Democratic Resilience of the Canadian Constitution. In Graber, MA, Levinson, S and Tushnet, M (eds), Constitutional Democracy in Crisis? New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 117–138.Google Scholar
Alt, JE (2019) Twenty Years of Transparency Research. Public Sector Economics 43(1), 5–13. https://doi.org/10.3326/pse.43.1.2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ANAO (Australian National Audit Office) (2020a) Request for Audit – The Australian Government's Economic Response to COVID-19. 23 April. www.anao.gov.au/work/request/the-australian-government-economic-response-to-covid-19.Google Scholar
ANAO (Australian National Audit Office) (2020b) Request for Audit – Effectiveness of the Commonwealth Government's Debt Management. 24 June. www.anao.gov.au/work/request/effectiveness-the-commonwealth-government-debt-management.Google Scholar
Bar-Siman-Tov, I (2020) Covid-19 Meets Politics: The Novel Coronavirus as a Novel Challenge for Legislatures. Theory and Practice of Legislation 8(1–2), 11–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/20508840.2020.1800250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beehive (2020) Statement to Parliament on the Economic Response to COVID-19. 17 March. www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/statement-parliament-economic-response-covid-19.Google Scholar
Bermeo, N (2016) On Democratic Backsliding. Journal of Democracy 27(1), 5–19. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2016.0012.Google Scholar
Borowiak, CT (2011) Accountability and Democracy: The Pitfalls and Promise of Popular Control. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Canada. House of Commons (2020) Debates, 43rd Parliament. 1st Session, 2019–2023, vol. 149, No. 032, March 24. Ottawa: Canadian Government Publishing. www.ourcommons.ca/Content/House/431/Debates/032/HAN032-E.PDF.Google Scholar
CBC News (2020) The WE Charity Controversy Explained. CBC News, 28 July. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/we-charity-student-grant-justin-trudeau-testimony-1.5666676.Google Scholar
Chaplin, S (2020) Protecting Parliamentary Democracy in ‘Plague’ Times: Accountability and Democratic Institutions During the Pandemic. Commonwealth Law Bulletin 46(1), 110–123. https://doi.org/10.1080/03050718.2020.1762235.Google Scholar
Controller and Auditor-General of New Zealand (2020) Draft Annual Plan 2020/21. https://oag.parliament.nz/2020/draft-annual-plan/docs/draft-annual-plan-2020-21.pdf.Google Scholar
Coughlan, T (2020) Parliament Passes the Wrong Law in an Afternoon of Urgent Lawmaking. Dominion Post, 1 May. www.stuff.co.nz/national/300002365/parliament-passes-the-wrong-law-in-an-afternoon-of-urgent-lawmaking.Google Scholar
Cowburn, A (2020) Coronavirus: MPs will Review New Emergency Measures Every Six Months after Government Relents to Pressure. Independent, 23 March. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coronavirus-emergency-bill-review-boris-johnson-a9418236.html.Google Scholar
Curry, B and Fife, R (2020) House Approves Emergency Bill to Respond to Coronavirus Economic Fallout. Globe and Mail, 25 March. www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-house-approves-emergency-bill-to-respond-to-coronavirus-economic.Google Scholar
Devlin, C (2020) Coronavirus: Government Battles to Urgently Pass New Law for Alert Level 2. Dominion Post, 13 May. www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/beehive-live/121491656/coronavirus-government-battles-to-urgently-pass-new-law-for-alert-level-2.Google Scholar
DHSCgovuk (2020) UPDATE on coronavirus (#COVID19) testing in the UK. Twitter, 24 March. https://twitter.com/DHSCgovuk/status/1242479152420225025.Google Scholar
Diamond, L (2011) The Impact of the Economic Crisis: Why Democracies Survive. Journal of Democracy 22(1), 17–30. https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/412890.Google Scholar
Drummond, D (2020) The Federal Government Owes Canadians a Fiscal Update. Globe and Mail, 16 June. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-federal-government-owes-canadians-a-fiscal-update/.Google Scholar
Duncan, G (2020) What is New Zealand's ‘Elimination Strategy’ and How Has it United the Country? World Economic Forum, 16 April. www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/new-zealand-coronavirus-elimination-covid19-participation/.Google Scholar
Erbo, DD and Krishnarajan, S (2018) Economic Crisis, Bureaucratic Quality and Democratic Breakdown. Government and Opposition: An International Journal of Comparative Politics 54(4), 715–744. https://doi.org/10.1017/gov.2017.37.Google Scholar
Freedman, L (2020) Muddled Messages as Britain Seeks to Stay Alert. The Interpreter, 14 May. www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/muddled-messages-britain-seeks-stay-alert.Google Scholar
Gay, O and Winetrobe, BK (2008) Parliament's Watchdogs: At the Crossroads. London: UK Study of Parliament Group, Constitutional Unit, University College London. https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/19571/1/19571.pdf.Google Scholar
Griglio, E (2020) Parliamentary Oversight Under the Covid-19 Emergency: Striving Against Executive Dominance. Theory and Practice of Legislation 8(1–2), 49–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/20508840.2020.1789935.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gunn, A (2020) House of Commons Meets to Pass Emergency COVID-19 Aid Legislation. Chronicle Herald, 24 March. www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/canada/house-of-commons-meets-to-pass-emergency-covid-19-aid-legislation-428941/.Google Scholar
Harris, K (2020) Trudeau Announces $1B COVID-19 Package as WHO Calls Global Outbreak a Pandemic. CBC, 11 March. www.cbc.ca/news/politics/liberals-support-workers-businesses-covid-19-1.5493454.Google Scholar
Hendriks, CM and Kay, A (2017) From ‘Opening Up’ to Democratic Renewal: Deepening Public Engagement in Legislative Committees. Government and Opposition: An International Journal of Comparative Politics 54(1), 25–51. https://doi.org/10.1017/gov.2017.20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HM Treasury (2020) Policy Paper – Budget 2020. www.gov.uk/government/publications/budget-2020-documents/budget-2020#budget-report.Google Scholar
International Budget Partnership (2020) Open Budget Survey 2019 – Country Results. www.internationalbudget.org/open-budget-survey/country-results.Google Scholar
International Monetary Fund (IMF) (2020) Fiscal Monitor: Database of Country Fiscal Measures in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. IMF Fiscal Affairs Department. June 2020. www.imf.org/en/Topics/imf-and-covid19/Fiscal-Policies-Database-in-Response-to-COVID-19.Google Scholar
Jones, A (2020) Coronavirus: How New Zealand Went ‘Hard and Early’ to Beat Covid-19. BBC, 10 July. www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-53274085.Google Scholar
Kimmel, K.-M and Ballardini, RM (2020) Restrictions in the Name of Health During COVID-19 in Finland. Bill of Health, Harvard Law School blog, 14 May. https://blog.petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2020/05/14/finland-global-responses-covid19/.Google Scholar
Klein, RJT, Nicholls, RJ and Thomalla, F (2004) Resilience to Natural Hazards: How Useful is this Concept? EVA Working Paper 9. Potsdam: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.Google Scholar
Knaus, C (2020) Calls to End ‘Undemocratic’ Adjournment of Parliament. Guardian, 10 May. www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/may/11/calls-to-end-undemocratic-adjournment-of-parliament.Google Scholar
Kopits, G and Craig, J (1998) Transparency in Government Operations. IMF Occasional Paper 158. Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.Google Scholar
Levitsky, S and Ziblatt, D (2018) How Democracies Die. New York: Crown.Google Scholar
Lowry, RC. and Alt, JE (2001) A Visible Hand? Bond Markets, Political Parties, Balanced Budget Laws, and State Government Debt. Economics & Politics 13(1), 49–72. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0343.00083.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maddox, B (2020) Boris Johnson’s Leadership is on the Line in Second Coronavirus Lockdown. Institute for Government, 2 November. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/boris-johnson-second-coronavirus-lockdown.Google Scholar
Maeda, K (2010) Two Modes of Democratic Breakdown: A Competing Risks Analysis of Democratic Durability. Journal of Politics 72(4), 1129–1149. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022381610000575.Google Scholar
Mao, F (2020) Scott Morrison: How Australia’s PM Rebuilt his Reputation. BBC News, 19 May. www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-52703265.Google Scholar
Martin, S (2020) What the Australian Government's $17bn Coronavirus Stimulus Package Means for You. Guardian, 12 March. www.theguardian.com/business/2020/mar/12/what-australian-governments-coronavirus-stimulus-package-means-for-you-explainer.Google Scholar
Meinel, F (2018) Confidence and Control in Parliamentary Government: Parliamentary Questioning, Executive Knowledge, and the Transformation of Democratic Accountability. American Journal of Comparative Law 66, 317–367. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcl/avy028.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
NAO (National Audit Office) (2020) Overview of the UK Government's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. www.nao.org.uk/report/summary-of-uk-governments-response-to-the-covid-19-pandemic.Google Scholar
New Zealand. House of Representatives (2020a) Debates, 52nd Parliament. 2017-2020, vol. 745, 5 March. www.parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/HansD_20200305_20200305/d0413760efb497f362f6789a192557f4814bb4d9.Google Scholar
New Zealand. House of Representatives (2020b) Debates, 52nd Parliament. 2017–2020, vol. 745, 19 March. www.parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/HansD_20200319_20200319/0f99c4c43740ae695741c8c3baf0b1772de96216.Google Scholar
New Zealand. House of Representatives (2020c) Debates, 52nd Parliament. 2017–2020, vol. 745, 25 March. Wellington: House of Representatives. www.parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/HansD_20200325_20200325/564992dc967e04053258f009b4644cced4c24a4b.Google Scholar
New Zealand. House of Representatives (2020d) Debates, 52nd Parliament. 2017–2020, vol. 745, 12 May. Wellington: House of Representatives. www.parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/HansD_20200512_20200512/c1cf51c8d9b40004be6f12698345176dda9f57e6.Google Scholar
New Zealand. House of Representatives (2020e) Debates, 52nd Parliament. 2017–2020, vol. 745, 14 May. Wellington: House of Representatives. www.parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/HansD_20200514_20200514/067f935a7150a36ab58207d5eb0c068aac1fe1b1.Google Scholar
OAG Canada (Office of the Auditor General Canada) (2020) Opening Statement to the Standing Committee on Finance – Government's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. 22 June. www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/osh_20200622_e_43593.html.Google Scholar
OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) (2020) Coronavirus Analysis. https://obr.uk/coronavirus-analysis/Google Scholar
Parliament of Australia (2019) Budget Concepts – Advance to the Finance Minister: A Quick Guide. 28 March. www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1819/Quick_Guides/BudgetConcepts#:~:text=In%20the%20Advance%20to%20the,Advance%20to%20the%20Finance%20Minister.Google Scholar
PBO Australia (Parliamentary Budget Office of Australia) (2020) Government Finances – March 2020. Published 8 May. www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Budget_Office/Publications/Research_reports.Google Scholar
Perrigo, B (2020) Coronavirus Could Hit the U.K. Harder Than Any Other European Country. Here's What Went Wrong. Time. 17 April.Google Scholar
Petrov, J (2020) The COVID-19 Emergency in the Age of Executive Aggrandizement: What Role for Legislative and Judicial Checks? Theory and Practice of Legislation 8(1–2), 71–92. https://doi.org/10.1080/20508840.2020.1788232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Philp, M (2009) Delimiting Democratic Accountability. Political Studies 57(1), 28–53. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2008.00720.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pimm, SL (1984) The Complexity and Stability of Ecosystems. Nature 307, 321–326. https://doi.org/10.1038/307321a0.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Potter, A (2010) Why is Our Legislature so Weak? MacLean's, 4 May. www.macleans.ca/general/why-is-our-legislature-so-weak/.Google Scholar
Prime Minister of Australia (2020) Supporting Australian Workers and Business. Media release, 22 March. www.pm.gov.au/media/supporting-australian-workers-and-business.Google Scholar
Przeworski, A (2019) Crises of Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rhodes, RAW, Wanna, J and Weller, P (2009) Comparing Westminster. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rothstein, B (2011) The Quality of Government: Corruption, Social Trust and Inequality in International Perspective. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samara Centre for Democracy (2020) Westminster Parliaments Compared – Four Approaches to Emergency Lawmaking and Scrutiny. 21 April. www.samaracanada.com/democracy-monitor/westminster-parliaments.Google Scholar
Smith, M (2020) Most Britons Now Say the Government is Doing a Bad Job of Managing the Crisis. YouGov, 3 June. https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2020/06/03/approval-government-handling-coronavirus-sinks-low.Google Scholar
Svolik, MW (2015) Which Democracies Will Last? Coups, Incumbent Takeovers, and the Dynamic of Democratic Consolidation. British Journal of Political Science 45, 715–738. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123413000550.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, PG (2009) Parliament Scrutiny of Government Performance in Australia. Australian Journal of Public Administration 68(4), 373–398. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8500.2009.00646.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tibshraeny, J (2020) Jenée Tibshraeny on What Was Worse Than Parliament Mistakenly Passing a Law Enabling Taxpayers to Lend Billions to Business. Interest.co.nz, 2 May. www.interest.co.nz/opinion/104814/jen%C3%A9e%C2%A0tibshraeny-what-was-worse-parliament-mistakenly-passing-law-enabling-taxpayers.Google Scholar
Treasury New Zealand (2020) COVID-19 Economic Commentary. https://treasury.govt.nz/information-and-services/new-zealand-economy/covid-19-economic-response/commentary.Google Scholar
Turnbull, L (2020) Canada's Opposition Parties were Already Weak. Now, They've Been Kneecapped. Globe and Mail, 28 May. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-canadas-opposition-parties-were-already-weak-now-theyve-been/.Google Scholar
UK House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (2020) Whole of Government Response to COVID-19. 23 July. https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/2024/documents/22788/default/.Google Scholar
United Kingdom. House of Commons (2020a) Debates, 58th Parliament. 2019–, vol. 673, No. 45, 23 March. London: House of Commons. https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2020-03-23.Google Scholar
United Kingdom. House of Commons (2020b) Debates, 58th Parliament. 2019–, vol. 674, No. 46, 24 March. London: House of Commons. https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2020-03-24.Google Scholar
Wade, A (2020) Covid-19 Coronavirus: Controversial Bill Passed to Enforce Alert Level 2 Powers. New Zealand Herald, 13 May. www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12331547.Google Scholar
Wahlquist, C (2020) Australia's Coronavirus Lockdown – The First 50 Days. Guardian, 1 May. www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/02/australias-coronavirus-lockdown-the-first-50-days.Google Scholar
Waismel-Manor, I, Bar-Siman-Tov, I, Rozenberg, O, Levanon, A, Benoît, C and Ifergane, G (2020) COVID-19 and Legislative Activity: A Cross-National Study. Bar Ilan University Faculty of Law Research Paper 20-12. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3641824.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Windholz, EL (2020) Governing in a Pandemic: From Parliamentary Sovereignty to Autocratic Technocracy. Theory and Practice of Legislation 8(1–2), 93–113. https://doi.org/10.1080/20508840.2020.1796047.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Health Organization (WHO) (2020) WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard: Situation by Country, Territory & Area. https://covid19.who.int/table.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Lozano et al. supplementary material

Lozano et al. supplementary material

Download Lozano et al. supplementary material(File)
File 34.3 KB