Resumen de Beyond stereotypes: the evolution of five Southern African legislatures in the budget process
The prospect that legislatures in Southern Africa would be strengthening their engagement in the annual budget process is considered far-fetched. Owing to their Westminster heritage and periods of authoritarian rule, these parliaments are typecast as weak and uninterested in serving as an institutional check on executive authority. Yet, preliminary signals suggest that a transformation may be underway. This study employs primary data collected from the Parliaments of Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe in 2016/2017. Results support the hypothesis that these anglophone African legislatures are becoming more involved in the budget process, particularly at the ex-ante phase, though to varying degrees and with continued challenges. Evidence also suggests progress past certain features of the UK-inherited budget system, despite enduring institutional constraints. This study takes us beyond stereotypes that limit the potential of these institutions to their historical scaffolding and contributes to our understanding of their evolution.
