Publicidade e Transparência das Contas Públicas: Obrigatoriedade e Abrangência desses Princípios na Administração Pública Brasileira

Abstract

    This paper aims to present the compulsory nature and reach of the principles of publicity and transparency in the Brazilian public administration, focusing on the divulgation of the public accounts. In Brazil, the transparency is considered a principle of the responsible fiscal management that comes from the constitutional principle of publicity. Though, the transparency is a wider concept than the publicity, that because information can be public but not be important, reliable, opportune and comprehensible. The research was accomplished following a qualitative approach. A literature revision formed the conceptual and legal base for the approach of the problem. The research revealed the legal derivation, the functions and the reach of the principles of publicity and transparency applied to the disclosure of the public accounts. It was also verified that Internet constitutes an emergent form for the divulgation of the public accounts, with larger prominence starting from the Fiscal Responsibility Act and Law n. 9.755/98. Finally, it is pointed out that more than to guarantee the accomplishment of the legal norms, the transparency initiatives in the public administration constitute a responsible management politic that benefits the practice of the citizenship by the population. Therefore, the comprehensibility of data and information by the users is an indispensable condition.