RESIGNIFYING THE PURPOSE OF THE PRIOR OPINIONS ISSUED BY THE COURTS OF AUDITORS

GREATER EFFECTIVENESS FOR GOVERNANCE AND RESPONSIVENESS TO REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY.

Abstract

Summary: The prior opinions issued by the Courts of Auditors, by subsidizing the political judgement of the Chief Executive, provide a picture of the management and performance of governance and, in this sense, their information is important to bring communication between political actors and society closer, as well as to assess the government's responsibility with regard to government proposals registered in the electoral justice during the campaign period and the programs and public policies implemented by the elected government. By acting as a counter-judgement tool for evaluating government performance, the actions of the Courts of Auditors assume technical relevance for the quality of democracy, translated into the demand for greater responsiveness of agents and greater institutionalization of accountability. The term responsiveness was used in the sense of behavior aimed at providing answers, solving problems, taking responsibility for oneself, and receiving economic and social questions and demands in order to answer them. The objective of this article is to observe the actions of the Courts of Auditors and their contribution to the effectiveness of the governance of the Executive Branch, having as a substratum of analysis the index of compliance with the recommendations and determinations contained in the previous opinions of ten Courts of Auditors, seeking to give a new meaning to the purpose of the previous opinion, as an instrument of information on the performance of government.