This review is from: Public Budgeting(Hardcover)This textbook is a great resource for anyone who doesn't or has little knowledge of Public Budgeting. The text is very comprehensive that is compress into 11 short chapters for the ease of the reader, which is especially beneficial for the working professional. The book begins with a brief overview of public budgeting. Further, it concisely highlights the political and practical aspects of budgeting and how they both relate. This is very important because policy shapes all facets of the budget. The author talks in depth about budget preparation on chapter 4 and how the economy affects government budgets on chapter 9. Finally, at the end of each chapter the author ends with his concluding thoughts. Personally, before begin reading the chapters I like to read the authors personal thoughts. This helped me to pay close attention to particular key points in the chapters.

Preface

1 THE NATURE OF PUBLIC BUDGETING

What Is Public Budgeting? 2

What Are Budgets Expected to Do? 3

Setting Goals and Priorities 3

Linking Goals to Actions 4

Managing the Economy 4

Promoting Accountability 4

Controlling the Use of Public Resources 5

Promoting Effciency and Effectiveness 5

Social Planning and Reform 5

Keeping the Process Manageable 6

Theories of Public Budgeting 6

Incrementalism 6

Rational Decision Making 8

Political Influence 8

Economics Shapes Budgets 9

Procedures Shape Budgets 9

Budget Strategies 10

Cultivating Clientele Support 10

Gaining the Trust of Others 10

Documenting a Need 11

Looking for Sympathetic Decision Makers 11

Coping with Painful Actions 11

The "Camel's Nose" 11

Making the Program Appear Self-Supporting 12

Capitalizing on Temporary Circumstances 12

Deception and Confusion 12

Minimizing the Risk of Future Cuts 13

Coping with Complexity and Conflict 13

Incrementalism 14

Fair Shares 14

Separate Pools 14

Division of Labor 15

Avoiding Programmatic Decisions 16

Postponement 16

Assumptions behind Coping Mechanisms 16

Concluding Thoughts 17

2 GOVERNMENT REVENUES, SPENDING,

AND BORROWING: A BRIEF OVERVIEW 19

Growing Revenues and Expenditures 21

Accounting for Growth 22

Where the Money Comes from and Where It Goes 24

The National Level 24

The State Level 26

The Local Level 28

Intergovernmental Grants 28

The Growth of Government Debt 29

The Consequences of More Spending 31

Concluding Thoughts 32

3 THE BUDGET CYCLE: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION 35

Preparing a Budget Proposal 36

Enacting the Budget 38

Budget Execution 39

Review and Audit 39

Linkages across Budget Cycles 41

Within a Government 41

Across Different Governments 43

Concluding Thoughts 45

4 BUDGET PREPARATION 47

The Format of the Budget Proposal 49

Lump Sum Budgeting 49

Object-of-Expenditure Budgeting 50

Performance Budgeting 51

Program Budgeting 52

Zero-Based Budgeting 53

Some Lessons from Experimenting

with Different Budget Formats 54

Formulating the Proposal: Bottom-Up

versus Top-Down Processes 55

Bottom-Up Processes 56

Top-Down Processes 56

Choosing a Process 57

Administrative Agencies in the Formulation Process 58

The President and Budget Proposals 59

The Changing Presidential Role 59

The Bureau of the Budget 60

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 61

Congress and Budget Formulation 63

Formulating Budget Proposals at the State

and Local Levels 64

State Formulation 65

Local Formulation 65

Concluding Thoughts 66

5　TECHNIQUES OF BUDGETARY ANALYSIS 69

Forecasting: A Vital Task 70

Methods of Forecasting 72

Naive Projection 72

Simple Extrapolation 72

Time-Series Techniques 73

Multivariate Time-Series Analysis 73

Delphi Technique 75

Types of Policy Analysis 77

Needs Assessment 78

Specifying Goals and Values 79

Program Evaluation 80

Concluding Thoughts 84

6　BUDGET ADOPTION 87

Some Important Aspects of Budget Adoption 88

Budget Adoption in the National Government 89

Early Developments 89

The Middle Phase 91

The Recent Experience 91

Budget Adoption in the States 95

Major Developments 96

Complications in State Budgeting 96

Budget Adoption at the Local Level 98

Accounting for Adoption Decisions in Budgeting 100

Concluding Thoughts 101

7　BUDGET EXECUTION 103

Modifying the Budget after It Is Adopted 104

Increasing Funding 106

Cutting the Budget 108

Reallocating Funds 111

Implementing the Budget: Some Nuts and Bolts 112

Apportionment and Allotment 113

Preaudits 114

Prior Approvals 114

Monitoring and Updating 115

An Anticipated Control: The Postaudit 115

Government-Sponsored Enterprises and Budgetary

Implementation 116

Concluding Thoughts 116

8　FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 119

Capital Budgeting 120

Techniques of Capital Budgeting 123

The Capital Improvement Plan 123

FinanciaI Analysis 124

Reconciliation 125

Problematic Aspects of Capital Budgeting 126

Auditing and Accounting 127

Uses of Auditing and Accounting 127

Potential Problems 128

Some Changing Emphases 129

Debt Administration 130

The National Government 130

State and Local Government Debt 130

Cash Management 132

Some General Guidelines for Money Management 134

Concluding Thoughts 135

9　THE ECONOMY AND THE BUDGET 137

How the Economy Affects Government Budgets 138

Short-Term Economic Forces 138

Long-Term Economic Forces 142

Public Budgeting's Impact on the Economy 144

The Allocation Function 145

The Distribution Function 146

The Stabilization Function 146

Perspectives on the Role of Government in Shaping

the Economy 147

Laissez-Faire 147

Mercantilism 149

Keynesian Economics 150

Supply-Side Economics 151

Tools for Stabilizing the Economy 152

Monetary Policy 152

Fiscal Policy 153

Promoting Economic Growth 155

Public Relations 156

Credit Assistance 156

Tax Reductions 156

Infrastructure Improvements 156

Foreign Trade Missions 157

Concluding Thoughts 157

10 INTERGOVERNMENTAL ASPECTS

OF PUBLIC BUDGETING 159

Why Have Multiple Governments? 160

Problems with Budgeting with Multiple Governments 162

Intergovernmental Grants 163

Types of Intergovernmental Grants 165

The Impact of Grants 168

Other Financial Relationships among Levels

of Government 171

Horizontal Dynamics in Fiscal Federalism 174

Mandates 175

Concluding Thoughts 176

11 THEFRUSTRATION OF BUDGET REFORM 179

The Budget Rearm Cycle 181

The Itemveto 183

Balanced Budget Laws 185

Gramm-Rudman-HoUings 186

The Appropriations Committees as a Budget Rearm 186

Budget Rearms and Budget Reality：A Mismatch 187

Budget Rearm as a Case of Institutional Nonlearning 189

The Wright Brothers Phenomenon 189

Reform as a Delaying Tactic 189

Reform as a Symbolic “Remedy”190

Concluding Thoughts 190

References 193

Index 207