Engendering Government Budgets

1
Engendering Government Budgets

• Market-Led Globalization and Government Budgets

2
Structure

• Government Budgets and Gender Bias
• Expenditure and Revenue
• Market-Led Globalization
• Fiscal Democracy

3
Budgets

• Key instruments of public (re-)distribution
• Neo-liberal vs. Keynesian budget policies
• Mainstream approaches are genderblind
• Need for gender-disagregated data

4
Expenditure Revenue

• Expenditure
• Gender equality in distribution of public assets
• Gender-sensitive formulation of sectoral budgets
• Analysis of the impact of public spending on
  women and men

• Revenue
• Different burdens through tax systems and user
  fees for public services
• Provision of public services affects women and
  men differently

5
The Fiscal Squeeze through Market-Led
Globalization

• Reduction of possible revenues
• Trade liberalization
• Privatization of public services
• National competitiveness
• Pressure for sustainable budgets

• International organizations restricting
  governments choices
• Structural Adjustment Programs of the IMF and the
  Worldbank
• Investment agreements and competition policies
  enforced by the WTO

6

• Financial institutions, rather than the vote of
  citizens, now discipline the size of governments
  budgets.

7
Fiscal Democracy

• Reform of Budget policies
• Transparency
• Accountability
• Participation
• Equal voice for
• all citizens

• Elected representatives
• Public consultations
• Shared decision-making
• Entitlement to public services

8
Discussion

• What can fiscal democracy on a national level
  achieve under conditions of neo-liberal
  globalization?
• Are gender budgets merely subsidizing the
  existing gender relations?
• What is the role of governments in international
  institutions implementing neo-liberal policies?