ABSTRACT
Public management reform creates a dilemma for traditional public budgeting in local government. The hallmarks of the traditional local government budget office were control and stability (Caiden 1981). The budget process was how public organizations “managed conflict” (Rubin 1988) over scarce resources, and the budget office administered that process through top-down, predictable, and often technocratic means. Budget analysts were intimately familiar with program operations and carefully scrutinized departments’ spending requests. Compliance with allotment controls, spending restrictions, grant requirements, and other rules was a key indicator of program success. A credible budgeter was one who could exercise his or her authority fairly and predictably in the eyes of line staff, agency heads, and program managers.
