Good governance

The issue of silos, overlaps and policy coherence between administrative branches has been discussed for many years but the problem is how to tackle them. The FOD analysis developed by the United States Government Accountability Office (U.S. GAO) provides auditors and evaluation researchers with a new method. Audits carried out on the basis of the FOD analysis may help central government actors and policy makers to identify and solve these challenges.

Sustainable development combines economic, social and environmental aspects. It requires a high level of policy coherence from governance – that different actors work in the same direction towards common goals. The UN Sustainable Development Goals have given a boost to political coherence. Tools for assessing policy coherence are also becoming available.

Public external audit addresses questions of integrity from the point of view of the consequences of one’s actions. Compliance and ethical behaviour are not always in line: how one’s action is seen by others is important. When a potential conflict of interest is debated, the bulk of the problem is not how one feels about it but how others could see the situation. Each generation reshapes its take on ethical behaviour. Due to the rapidly changing environment and the development of artificial intelligence, also novel ethical questions arise.

In recent years, participatory budgeting has become more common in Finland and around the world as part of the planning of general government finances. An increasingly low voter turnout in elections may increase interest in the use of participatory budgeting in decision-making.

One of the core ideas in sustainable development is applying a long-term perspective to take account of the famous ‘future generations’. Applying a long-term perspective is not easy but makes it possible to address risks that are unlikely to be realized in the short term, such as a pandemic or the climate change.

Publicly funded operations are usually assessed using the three e’s: efficiency, economy and effectiveness. In Finnish legislation, the principles of good governance are included in the Administrative Procedure Act.  The Act does not separately mention efficiency, however, but public authorities and other providers of public services can be expected to be efficient without any specific legislation stating so.

At first, risk management in organisations is similar to the daily risk management of an individual: the goal is to prevent damage or minimise the impact of damage on a case-by-case basis. However, when the organisation grows, it should invest in systematic risk management where the goal is to support the organisation’s strategic and operational decision-making and retain the organisation functional under all circumstances.

There are detailed provisions on the budget and financial management of the European Union. Do the numerous EU regulations make the setting of objectives for the use of resources or the monitoring of the use of resources easier?