Budgeting: A Comparative Theory of Budgetary Processes

TLDR

Wildavsky’s revised edition compiles existing budgeting knowledge, arguing that realistic budgets reflect practical politics and reveal the norms of a political culture. He studies budgeting by directly examining governmental activity, using reliable accounts to capture national political life with a comparative focus. Applying his general theory to Britain, France, Japan, the United States, poorer countries, cities, and states, he explains revenue‑expenditure balance, government growth, and varying spending growth rates, and offers a critical evaluation of earlier work.

Abstract

In this completely revised edition of his classic work, Aaron Wildavsky collects in one place the existing knowledge on budgeting. Realistic budgets are an expression of practical politics. Budgeting is so basic it reveals the norms by which men live in a particular political culture. In dealing directly with the universe of governmental activity, Wildavsky uses reliable accounts of how budgeting is carried on to capture a great deal of national political life. The focus is explicitly comparative. After developing a general theory of budgeting; he analyzes four rich countries - Britain, France, Japan, and the United States, followed by poor countries, American cities, and American states. Wildavsky uses this analysis to develop and apply a cultural theory of budgeting, explaining the degree of balance between revenue and expenditure; why government grows in all industrial democracies, and why there are still different rates of growth in spending. He offers a critical evaluation of the first edition, linking the ability of nations to make history and the various strategies of change they adopt to explain a wider range of budgetary processes.