1 Accountability, good government and public trust are
inextricably bound. Supreme Audit Institutions fulfil an
exceptional role in the public domain, checking if governments
4 spend their money properly. They are like ‘watchdogs’ for
citizens and parliaments with the purpose of auditing public
expenditure and examining the effectiveness of policies. They
7 aim to enhance the trustworthiness of government institutions,
all the more so in fragile democracies. They do so, for instance,
in striving to disclose cases of corruption, not just in the
10 highest echelons of government, but also in everyday petty
bribery. And they can be found counting houses, roads and
water taps, to see if government’s promises are being kept.
Roel Janssen. The art of audit. Amsterdam University Press, 2016 (adapted).