Introduction: The U.S. federal government has attempted to align spending decisions with expected performance since World War II. President Hoover and Congress created the Hoover Commission in 1947 in an attempt to reform the way executive branch agencies measured and reported department outcomes. The Hoover Commission focused on promoting economy, efficiency and improved services, and performance budgeting was designed to provide intelligible information to the President, Congress, and the public (GAO, 1997, page 30). The Commission recommended that attention shift away from government inputs (items of expense and lists of federal employees) to government outputs (accomplishments, activities, and related costs) (GAO, 1997, page 30). The Commission defined performance budgeting as: “Under performance budgeting, attention is centered on the function or activity—on the accomplishment of the purpose—instead of on a lists of employees or authorizations of purchases….this method of budgeting concentrates congressional action and executive direction on the scope and magnitude of the different Federal activities. It places both accomplishment and cost in a clear light before the Congress and the public.” (GAO, 1997, page 30). Explanation of theory: Performance budgeting is categorized under the systems/cybernetic theories where performance is demonstrated through cost data budgeting (Williams, 2013, page 9). There are three forms of performance budgeting: direct, presentation, and performance informed. Direct performance budgeting is the allocation of resources directly and explicitly to units of performance, generally outputs. Furthermore, this form of performance budgeting refers to the Hoover Commission proposal (Williams, 2013, pa... ... middle of paper ... ...ion. (GAO publication No. GAO/AIMD-97-46). Retrieved from U.S. Government Accounting Office on February 8, 2014: http://www.gao.gov/archive/1997/ai97046.pdf Williams, Daniel W. & Calabrese, Thad. (2013). A Taxonomy of Budget Theories. Retrieved from Blackboard January 21, 2014: https://bbhosted.cuny.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-14809885-dt-content-rid-37089222_1/courses/BRUCH_PAF_9140_NUF_A_201402/Taxonomy.pdf Williams, D.W., & Calabrese, T. (2011). Towards a Metatheory of Budgeting. Retrieved from eReserve on February 8, 2014 http://ereserve.baruch.cuny.edu.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/eres/docs/30314/williamscalabrese_2011_web_.pdf Young, Richard D. (2003). “Performance Based Budgeting Systems.” USC Institute for Public Service and Policy Research Public Policy & Practice. Retrieved on February 8, 2014: http://ipspr.sc.edu/ejournal/assets/performance%20based%20budgets.pdf
I attended the Saturday Lab 1 session discussing the Denison Specialty Hospital case study. In our session, we had a through discussion into the different budget terminology. I learned about the difference between accrual and cash accounting methods, which is based on the timing of when the revenue and expenses are recognized. I also learned about responsibility centers as an organizational unit under the supervision of a manager, who is responsible for its activities and results. In addition, the manager is accountable for the budget of the department that they head. Therefore, a centralized form of management in developing the budget because it makes easier to because the information for the department budget is located
Mikesell, J. L. (2010). Fiscal administration: Analysis and applications for the public sector (8th ed.: 2010 custom edition). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning
Problems and Prospects. The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal, Volume 12(3). Retrieved from http://www.innovation.cc/scholarly-style/bradshaw5final.pdf
The past four decades has seen Congress attempt to centralize the budget process and place restraints on overall spending. The passage in 1974 of the Budget and Impoundment Control Act, Congress established a new budget committee in each house. These committees receive the president’s budget and analysis provided by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The CBO was created with expertise equivalent to that possessed by the Executive branch. You could infer that creating such an office only implies more power to Congress considering they are working around the Executive branch in this instance. Although the president can recommend a budget for Congress to consider, the actual appropriation of funds is in the hands of the House and
For government budgeting to be effective, the process that guides it must be an evolving one. As the government gets bigger, it will most likely destabilize the existing method. Therefore, it must change to keep pace with the demands and growth of the country. The process must be capable of handling the complexity of our nation and its multifaceted needs so it will always need revisions and restructuring to face these new challenges. Its ultimate goal must be to reinforce the government and strengthen the country.
Kraft, Michael E., and Scott R. Furlong. 2013. Public policy: Politics, analysis, and alternatives, Anonymous Anonymous , ed. Charisse Kiino . 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications.
This is better explained by the public servant knowing why he is doing the job and who it is benefiting, socially, and how he is impacting and making a change for the better in their own mind, personal. In the first two “chapters” of Caught between the Dog and the Fireplug, or How to
Wheelan, C. (2011). Introduction to Public Policy (1st ed.). United States: W.W. Nortion & Company, INC. (Original work published 2011).
Financial Accounting Standards Board. (1985). Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 86. Norwalk. Retrieved April 7, 2014, from http://www.fasb.org/cs/BlobServer?blobkey=id&blobnocache=true&blobwhere=1175820922177&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername2=Content-Length&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadervalue2=189998&blobheadervalue1=filename%3Dfas86.pdf&blobcol=url
McClatchy-Tribune News Service. "Editorials on the federal budget". McClatchy - Tribune News Service. 03 Feb 2010 eLibrary. Web. 18 Feb 2010.
Public Administration involves the development, implementation and management of policies for the attainment of set goals and objectives that will be to the benefit of the general public. Since Public Administration involves taking decisions that affect the use of public resources there is often the question of how to utilize public resources for maximum public good. The National Association of Public Administration has identified four pillars of public administration: economy, efficiency, effectiveness and social equity. These pillars are equally important in the practice of public administration and to its success. This paper seeks to explain the role of each of the pillars in the practice of public administration.
Rabin, J. (2003). Encyclopedia of public administration and public policy: K-Z. United States: CRC press.
1. The purpose of this response is to assert the active role of public managers in policy making. By using their technical, analytical and managerial skills public managers can be effective in the policy process and just in implementation.
Public policy can be defined as “What ever governments choose to do or not do” (Dye, 2008, p 2). In the context of this essay, public policies are a set of actors by the government in order to reach out to the masses. The ministries and departments are mandated to deliver specific mandates in the form of public goods and services.
The national budget is the main instrument through which governments collect resources from the economy, in a sufficient and appropriate manner; and allocate and use those resources responsively, efficiently and effectively (Todorovic & Djordjevic, 2009). The work of public budget has increased extremely more complicated, abstruse and worrying (Hou, 2006, p.730).