ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the budgetary process of the United States government. It compares the traditional line-item budget with other forms of budgeting and discusses why the line-item budget, if not the best form, is certainly the most durable. The chapter explores why the idea of a balanced budget has fallen by the wayside and how the traditional institutional guardians of the public's purse have been thwarted. If traditional budgetary practices may be described as incremental, the main alternative to the traditional budget is one that emphasizes comprehensive calculation. So it is not surprising that the main modem alternatives are planning, programming, and budgeting (PPB) and zero-base budgeting (ZBB). Some theories hold that bureaucratic conspiracy or manipulation explains the growth of public expenditure. A constitutional expenditure limitation would establish restraints that prevent piling up all solutions, and constraints within which all have to compete, because not all can survive at the same level.
