Journal Article

The \Ball of Confusion\ in Federal Budgeting: A Shadow Agenda for Deliberative Reform of the Budget Process

Meyers, Roy T.

2009

Overview

The budget process is seriously flawed, as Irene Rubin suggests, but there is little prospect for its effective reform. Current economic and political conditions could open the window for reform, but the excessive partisanship that helped create these conditions also has reduced the pool of institutionalists who could lead reforms. More important is confusion about which reforms might be most effective. Most proposed reforms would create more rules, but they will not work unless politicians commit to meeting the goals such rules are intended to support. Those commitments could be produced by deliberation over critical issues that have been neglected in recent discussions of budget process reform: how the process could support macroeconomic policy making, how improved budget concepts could accurately measure finances and aid in dealing with upcoming policy challenges, how reorganization could enable intelligent priority setting, and how the process could be better aligned with the constitutional sharing of powers and the electoral system.

• Publisher: Blackwell Publishing Inc,Wiley Subscription Services,American Society for Public Administration
• Subject: "PAR" Mini-Symposium on the Federal Budget Process: The Great Debate Continues / Appropriations / Baby boomers / Budget allocation / Budget appropriations / Budget deficits / Budget policy / Budget reform / Budget, Government / Budgeting / Budgets / Confusion / Economic conditions / Economic policy / Elections / Electoral reform / Electoral Systems / Federal budget / Federal budget deficit / Federal budget surplus / Federal budgets / Federalism / Financial budgets / Financial economics / Fiscal years / GDP / Government budgets / Gross Domestic Product / Intelligence / Macroeconomics / Metaphor / Partisanship / Policy Making / Political change / Political parties / Political reform / Political systems / Productivity / Public administration / Public sphere / Reform / Reforms / Reorganization / Singing / Skits / Tax cuts / U.S.A / United States federal budget / United States of America / War