Towards Correlating Subnational Legislative Oversight and Service Delivery as Subnational Level: The Case of Gauteng Province

Abstract

Legislatures and parliaments are critical democratic governance avenues for accountability and intervene, at policy level, to address the needs of the electorate. Legislative oversight literature provides a reflection on the effectiveness of legislative oversight and the factors underlying such effectiveness as well as its impact on the political posture. However, there is limited interrogation on the role that effective legislative oversight plays on service delivery. Therefore, this paper seeks to conceptualise an empirical research that interrogates the role of effective legislative oversight on service delivery using the Gauteng Provincial Legislature as a case study. To this end, the paper employs a summative thematic content analysis to interrogate the research problem and expose the knowledge gap on this subject. Specifically, to draw out the symptoms and the underlying causes of ineffective legislative oversight as well as the consequences, we make use of the systems thinking – more specifically the problem tree and the theory of constraints. We then use our research problem analysis as well as our research knowledge gap analysis to suggest an appropriate research problem statement, research purpose statement, and the research questions for such as study. We also propose an appropriate research strategy, design, procedure, and methods, as well as the interpretive frameworks that could appropriately guide and serve the empirical part of such a research.