Obstacles to and opportunities for politicians’ use of accounting information: Special Issue of the journal Public Money & Management

PMM is planning a theme dedicated to the use of accounting information by politicians. Whether, and if so how, politicians use accounting information produced by budgetdocuments, interim reports and annual accounts is a contested issue. Evidence seems toindicate that many politicians do not use the available accounting information at all, or theyuse it only under certain conditions, for example when financial problems require backgroundinformation for making urgent decisions or to respond to criticism from the opposition orin the media. At the end of the day, politics is their business and financial information inwhatever form may need to be framed to suit political and social aims. This also means thatpoliticians may influence accounting information for decision-making and accountabilitypurposes in order to confirm their own political priorities or to put unwelcome policyintentions in a bad light.