مجلة البحوث والدراسات المعاصرة
Volume 4, Numéro 1, Pages 1-22
2026-05-31
“institutional Fragmentation And Audit Effectiveness In Fragile States: An Institutional Analysis Of The Syrian Oversight System”
Authors : الزكريا عبد السلام .
Abstract
This study examines the impact of institutional fragmentation on the effectiveness of public sector auditing in fragile governance contexts, using Syria as a critical case. Drawing on institutional theory, the article conceptualizes fragmentation not as an organizational weakness, but as a system-level structural constraint that disrupts audit coherence, weakens coordination, and undermines preventive and performance-oriented auditing. The study reinterprets INTOSAI principles as an analytical framework for assessing audit system design rather than as purely normative standards. Methodologically, the research adopts a qualitative institutional approach based on legal–organizational analysis, institutional mapping, and process-oriented examination of audit functions. The Syrian oversight system is analyzed through its historical evolution, legal mandates, reporting lines, and functional overlaps among audit, inspection, internal control, and quasi-judicial bodies. The findings reveal that layered institutional development, ambiguous mandates, and weak coordination mechanisms have fragmented the audit process chain, diffused accountability, and reduced the practical impact of audit outputs. To contextualize the analysis, the article conducts a structured comparative examination of selected Supreme Audit Institution models, including the UK National Audit Office, the US Government Accountability Office, and Brazil’s Tribunal de Contas da União. The comparative insights demonstrate that audit effectiveness is strongly associated with unified audit mandates, clear functional differentiation, and integration with accountability users, rather than with the expansion of enforcement or punitive powers. The study concludes that audit reform in fragile and post-conflict states should prioritize institutional redesign focused on mandate rationalization, organizational coherence, and professional autonomy. By reframing audit effectiveness as a problem of institutional design, the article contributes to the literature on public governance and provides practical implications for audit reform strategies in fragmented oversight systems.
Keywords
Public sector auditing; Institutional fragmentation; Supreme Audit Institutions; INTOSAI; Audit effectiveness; Fragile states; Public governance; Syria
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