ABSTRACT
Program budgeting injects the traditional, incremental process of the allocation of public funds with systematic analysis of the costs of government activities and narrative explanation about these activities. Ideally, program budgeting should be incorporated with other budget approaches to better inform budgetary decision makers and stakeholders about the costs of doing the government's business and the trade-offs of traveling down various paths. Clear and seamless implementation of program budgeting is difficult, however. The planning and analytical foci of this method of budgeting coupled with inherent complexity of application conflict with the politics of the process as practiced. These components of program budgeting, even if well done, also do not line up well with the requirements of effective managerial control that are necessary in the crisis-driven environment that is ubiquitous in modern governments.
