This open access book examines how civic organizations can influence tax policy and administration in ways that benefit ordinary citizens, through in-depth case studies from a wide range of countries including France, Guatemala, Kenya, Mexico, Philippines, Uganda, and the United States. These cases demonstrate the ways in which civic coalitions have crafted convincing narratives and used creative strategies to change the political incentives of policymakers and yield more equitable tax reform. The cases cover a wide range of types of tax reform, from taxes on specific items like fuel, tobacco and mobile money applications, to personal and corporate income taxes. They also highlight the use of a variety of approaches by civic actors—such as media campaigns, advocacy with legislators, and strategic litigation—to influence policy. These examples, covering a range of lower and higher income countries, across many aspects of tax systems, give us useful examples to build on, demonstrating that citizens everywhere can influence tax policy and ultimately secure fairer societies. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY 4.0 licence on www.bloomsburycollections.com.

Decisions about "who gets what, when, and how" are perhaps the most important that any government must make. So it should not be remarkable that around the world, public officials responsible for public budgeting are facing demands --from their own citizenry, other government officials, economic actors, and increasingly from international sources --to make their patterns of spending more transparent and their processes more participatory.

Surprisingly, rigorous analysis of the causes and consequences of fiscal transparency is thin at best. Open Budgets seeks to fill this gap in existing knowledge by answering a few broad questions: How and why do improvements in fiscal transparency and participation come about? How are they sustained over time? When and how do increased fiscal transparency and participation lead to improved government responsiveness and accountability?

Contributors: Steven Friedman (Rhodes University/University of Johannesburg); Jorge Antonio Alves (Queens College, CUNY) and Patrick Heller (Brown University); Jong-sung You (University of California --San Diego) and Wonhee Lee (Hankyung National University); John M. Ackerman (National Autonomous University of Mexico and Mexican Law Review); Aaron Schneider (University of Denver) and Annabella Espa?a-Naj?ra (California State University?Fresno); Barak D. Hoffman (Georgetown University); Jonathan Warren and Huong Nguyen (University of Washington); Linda Beck (University of Maine?Farmington and Columbia University), E. H. Seydou Nourou Toure (Institut Fondamental de l'Afrique Noire), and Aliou Faye (Senegal Ministry of the Economy and Finance).