Budgetary Politics in American Governments (Political Science)

Budgetary Politics in American Governments takes a comparative approach to the subject of public budgeting, examining budgetary politics at the federal, state and local government levels. Students are introduced to the budgetary decision making process, taxation, spending, budget execution and financial management as well as the budget process at each level of government. The revised third edition offers a new chapter on the interrelationship of economics and politics, demonstrating how public budgeting at the national level can be used as a tool of fiscal policy to influence the economy's performance. In addition to an assessment of the patterns of stability and change that have characterized public budgeting in the past, the third edition turns from an emphasis on budget deficits to one on budget surpluses, while maintaining the central role that deficits have played in national budgetary politics.