ABSTRACT
CONTENTS 19.1 Growing Partisan and Ideological Confl ict ......................................................... 328 19.2 International Infl uences on Budgetary Decisions ................................................ 330 19.3 Economic Development Programs .......................................................................331 19.4 Budgetary Instability, Rebudgeting, and Uncertainty ..........................................332 19.5 Political Diffi culties in Taxation .......................................................................... 334 19.6 Some Concluding Th oughts .................................................................................335 References .......................................................................................................................335
Budgetary decisions aff ect public bureaucracies in many important ways. If agencies lack adequate funding, they will be less able to accomplish their objectives. Th e morale of agency employees may suff er if they fail to receive salary increases or if many positions are left unfi lled due to hiring freezes. Facilities and equipment that need to be replaced may remain in service because there is no money to replace them; inadequate funding for maintenance may cause premature deterioration of facilities and equipment. If budgetary decisions are subject to repeated revision, agency personnel may fear that a new initiative or an ongoing program may be undercut by the withdrawal of funds that were previously approved. Moreover, the budget’s value as an instrument of democratic accountability is reduced if a budget is adopted amid great fanfare, but is later revised in ways that are not very visible to the public.
