Fiscal transparency is important for two reasons: First, because people have a right to know what their governments do with public resources; second, because it reshapes the relationship between governments and their citizens. When governments publish more information on their fiscal operations, citizens can better monitor government actions and hold them accountable for how they raise and spend public resources. 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. By answering the questions of 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? Khagram, Fung and de Renzio, seek to solve the lack of rigorous analysis of the causes and consequences of fiscal transparency.