The Politics of Public Budgeting: Getting and Spending, Borrowing and Balancing - Softcover

Rubin, Irene S.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1452240418 ISBN 13: 9781452240411

Publisher: CQ Press, 2013

Synopsis

Public budgeting is inherently political. Using a “power struggles” theme to examine the dynamics of budgeting, Rubin’s classic text shines a bright light on the political jockeying between interest groups, parties, officials, policymakers, and the public. Updated throughout, the seventh edition explores the impact of the Great Recession, the joint federal–state unemployment insurance program, local level bankruptcies, and state takeovers, as well as the politics of successful tax increases in the midst of recession. Expert at explaining budgeting changes over time, Rubin sets issues like the federal deficit and health care expenditures in political and comparative context. And like prior editions, the book draws examples from all levels of government, emphasizing the relationship among them. Analyzing each strand of the decision-making process, Rubin shows the extraordinary coordination involved in passing a budget and achieving accountability.

About this title

About the Author:

Irene S. Rubin is Professor Emeritus of Public Administration at Northern Illinois University.  She is the author of Running in the Red: The Political Dynamics of Urban Fiscal Stress, Shrinking the Federal Government, Class Tax and Power: Municipal Budgeting in the United States, and Balancing the Federal Budget: Eating the Seed Corn or Trimming the Herds, all four of which rely extensively on qualitative interviews.  She has written journal articles about citizen participation in local level government in Thailand, how universities adapt when their budgets are cut, and fights between legislative staffers and elected and appointed officials about unworkable policy proposals, all based on qualitative interviews.  She is in the middle of an interviewing project about how local officials view and use contracts with the private sector and with other governmental units to provide public services. 

About this edition

• Publisher: CQ Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1452240418
• ISBN 13: 9781452240411
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352