The Principle of Substantial Transparency of Public Finance and the Creation of the Active Citizenship

Open Access

Abstract

This article endeavours to analyse what impact of substantial transparency of public finance (i.e. a reliable means of providing information on state sector finances) has on shaping active citizenship in society. The aim is based on critical question on how the public authority should inform citizens on the process of collecting and spending public sector income; moreover, the complicated nature of public finances and varying educational backgrounds of recipients who form the society need to be considered. The authors claim that principle of substantial transparency of public finance (i.e. informing citizens on public funding) has been inadequately implemented and it might be incomprehensible from the social addressee's perspective. Currently in Poland this principle is primarily focused on a rather professional level, although its social aspect is not ignored by the doctrine either. The authors believe that reporting on the state finances should be adjusted to the educational level of the audience as they are the principals of public authority. This paper constitutes a part of the extensive research initiated by the authors, which examines the role of moral values in distributing public resources by the authorities. Non-reactive (non-empirical) research methods have been utilised in the paper, which encompass a literature review, including legal acts currently in force in Poland. ; Joanna M. Salachna: salachna@uwb.edu.pl ; Marcin Tyniewicki: tyniewicki@uwb.edu.pl ; Joanna M. Salachna, Professor of Financial Law, Department of Public Finance and Financial Law, Faculty of Law, University of Bialystok, Poland. The author specializes in local government finance, financial legislation and theory of legal and financial accountability. The author is the member of the Regional Chamber of Account in Bialystok and the Center for Information and Research Organization in Public Finance and Tax Law of Central and Eastern Europe. ; Marcin Tyniewicki, Doctor of Financial Law, Department of Public Finance and Financial Law, Faculty of Law, University of Bialystok, Poland. The author specializes in local government finance, EU public finance and public debt management. The author is the member of the Regional Chamber of Account in Bialystok and the Center for Information and Research Organization in Public Finance and Tax Law of Central and Eastern Europe. ; Joanna M. Salachna - Faculty of Law, University of Bialystok ; Marcin Tyniewicki - Faculty of Law, University of Bialystok ; Buchanan, J. M., Musgrave, R. A.: Finanse publiczne a wybór publiczny. Dwie odmienne wizje państwa (Public Finance and Public Choice: Two Contrasting Visions of the State), Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, 2005. ; Buchanan, J. M., Tollison, R. D.: The Theory of Public Choice: Political Applications of Economics, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1972. ; Cornwell, S., Morgan, D.: Obamacare website gets new tech experts; oversight pressure grows, Reuters: 2013. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/31/ us-usa-healthcare-surgeidUSBRE99U16R20131031). ; Fukuyama, F.: Budowanie państwa. Władza i ład międzynarodowy w XXI wieku (StateBuilding: Governance and World Order in the 21st Century), Poznan: Rebis, 2005. ; Gaudemet, P.G., Molinier, J.: Finanse publiczne (Public Finance), Warsaw: PWE, 2000. ; Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: December 2013. The Henry Keiser Family Fundation 2013. http://kff.org/health-reform/poll-finding/kaiser-health-tracking-poll-december-2013. ; Kornberger-Sokołowska, E.: Budżety jednostek samorządu terytorialnego (Budgets of Local Governments), in: Ruśkowski, E. (eds): System prawa finansowego. Prawo finansowe sektora finansów publicznych (System of the Financial Law. Financial Law of the Public Finance Sector), Warsaw: Wolters Kluwer business, 2010. ; Kosikowski, C., Ruśkowski, E. (eds): Finance publiczne i prawo finansowe (Public Finance and Financial Law), Warsaw: Wolters Kluwer business, 2008. ; Malinowska-Misiąg, E., Misiąg, W.: Finanse publiczne w Polsce (Public Finance in Poland), Warsaw: Lexis Nexis, 2007. ; Moe, T.: The New Economics of Organization, American Journal of Political Science no. 28 (1984). ; Stiglitz, J.E.: Ekonomia sektora publicznego (Economics of the Public Sector), Warsaw: PWE, 2004. ; Weingast, B.R., Moran M.: The Congressional-Bureaucratic System: A Principal-Agent Perspective, Public Choice no. 44 (1984). ; Salachna, J.M., Tyniewicki, M.: Moralność jako element podejmowania decyzji finansowych w sektorze publicznym (Morality as a factor in financial decisions making within the public sector), Prawo Budżetowe Państwa i Samorządu (Budget Law of the State and Local Governments) no. 3(4) (2016). http://apcz.pl/czasopisma/index.php/PBPS/article/ view/PBPS.2016.012/10388 ; Strasser, D.: The finances of Europe, Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1992. ; Weralski, M.: Finanse publiczne i prawo finansowe (Public finance and financial law), Warsaw: PWN, 1984. ; 71-85