Popular Oversight of Public Finance: From Institutional Transparency to Civic Participation – A Comparative Study between Morocco, Malaysia, and Sweden

This study investigates popular oversight of public finance as a moral and institutional mechanism ensuring balance between the state and society in managing public resources. It assumes that fiscal transparency depends not only on legal frameworks but also on the evolution of a collective financial conscience rooted in civic ethics and sustained across time. Using a comparative structural–temporal approach, the paper examines three national models—Sweden, Malaysia, and Morocco—based on international reports (OECD, UNDP, Transparency International) and recent Moroccan sources (INPPLC, CESE, Ministry of Finance, and national academic studies 2021–2024). Findings reveal that Sweden embodies a mature model of institutionalized transparency grounded in social trust and long-term civic education; Malaysia demonstrates the ethical fusion of Islamic values with modern governance; whereas Morocco represents a transitional context where digital participation is expanding, yet ethical internalization remains in progress. The study proposes an original theoretical contribution—the Civic Value Oversight Framework (CVOF)—which integrates institutional openness, ethical participation, and temporal sustainability. The framework demonstrates that sustainable oversight emerges from the long-term alignment of legal structures, civic ethics, and temporal continuity, offering a universal model for ethical governance.