The new Eighth Edition examines the budgeting process over time and sets issues like the federal deficit and health care expenditures in political and comparative context.  As in previous editions, the book also draws on examples from all levels of government and emphasizes the relationships among them. By carefully analyzing each strand of the decision-making process, Rubin shows the extraordinary cooperation involved in passing a budget and achieving accountability.

Table of Contents:
Tables, Figures, and Minicases Foreword Acknowledgments 1. The Politics of Public Budgets What Is Budgeting? Governmental Budgeting Minicase: City Manager Replies to Scathing Budget Critique Minicase: Missouri Constitutional Amendment Reduces Governor’s Powers Minicase: The Courts and New Jersey Pension Reform Minicase: Doctoring Audit Reports Minicase: The Federal Debt Limit as a Constraint Minicase: Highly Constrained Budgeting—Colorado’s TABOR Amendment The Meaning of Politics in Public Budgeting Budgetary Decision-Making Microbudgeting and Macrobudgeting Summary and Conclusions Useful Websites 2. Revenue Politics Raising Taxes Minicase: Louisiana—Getting Around the No Tax Increase Pledge Minicase: A Recent Tax Increase in Philadelphia The Politics of Protection Minicase: Wisconsin and Unexamined Tax Breaks Minicase: Illinois and the Role of the Press Minicase: Tax Breaks for Hedge Fund Managers Minicase: California and Enterprise Zone Tax Breaks Minicase: North Carolina and Business Tax Breaks Minicase: Michigan—Terminating Its Film Subsidy Minicase: New Mexico and Tax Expenditure Reporting Tax Reform Minicase: Georgia Tax Reform Left Hanging Minicase: Michigan Tax Reform or Class Warfare? Summary and Conclusions Useful Websites 3. The Politics of Process Budget Process and the Characteristics of Public Budgeting Minicase: Harrisburg—Whose Priorities Dominate? Macro- and Micropolitics Minicase: Republican Macrolevel Reform Proposals Designing Process to Achieve Policy and Political Goals Minicase: Micropolitics—Bending the Rules to Win Individual Decisions Minicase: How the Governor’s Veto Is Used Variation Between and Among Federal, State, and Local Governments Minicase: Maine—The Governor Versus the Legislature Minicase: Limits of Governor’s Vetoes in New Mexico Minicase: San Diego—Fiscal Problems, Strong Mayor, and Veto Powers Summary and Conclusions Useful Websites 4. The Dynamics of Changing Budget Processes Overview Minicase: New York State—Powerful Governor, Weak Legislature, Informal Budgeting Minicase: The Governor Versus the Courts Federal Budget Process Changes Minicase: Deeming Resolutions and Ad Hoc Budgeting Minicase: Ad Hoc Scoring Rules Minicase: Overseas Contingency Operations Changes in Budget Process at the State Level Minicase: Maryland’s Legislative Budget Power Minicase: South Carolina’s Legislatively Dominated Budget Process Begins to Budge Minicase: The Executive and the Legislature in Florida’s Budgeting Changes in Budget Process at the Local Level Minicase: Florida and Unfunded Mandates Summary and Conclusions Useful Websites 5. Expenditures: Strategies, Structures, and the Environment Strategies Minicase: A $17,000 Drip Pan Minicase: Homeland Security—A Program Tied to a Goal of Unlimited Worth Minicase: Amtrak Train Wreck Minicase: Congressional Budget Office and Scoring Structure Minicase: Budgetary Implications of Direct College Loans Versus Loan Guarantees Minicase: An Open-Ended Discretionary Program—Immigration Enforcement Minicase: California and Mandatory Spending on Redevelopment Agencies Minicase: Fannie and Freddie Minicase: New Jersey’s Fund Diversion From the Unemployment Insurance Fund The Environment Strategy, Structure, and Environment Combined: The Medicare Example Summary and Conclusions Useful Websites 6. The Politics of Balancing the Budget Balance as a Constraint Minicase: Is the Wisconsin Budget Balanced? Minicase: Balance in the Federal Highway Trust Fund Multiple Actors, Ideologies, and Deficits The Environment, Unpredictability, and Deficits Increasing Stress Between Payer and Decider Minicase: Chicago’s Parking Meters Minicase: Iowa’s Privatization of Medicaid The Politics of Deficits: The Federal Level The Politics of Deficits: States Minicase: Detroit Bankruptcy Minicase: Why Did Jefferson County, Alabama, Declare Bankruptcy? The Politics of Balance in Cities Minicase: The Politics of Deficits—An Urban Example Summary and Conclusions Useful Websites 7. Budget Execution: The Politics of Adaptation Minicase: Missouri—An Executive Abuses Discretion? Tools for Changing the Budget Minicase: Using Holdbacks to Change Legislative Priorities—Maryland Minicase: Herbert Hoover and Legislative Vetoes Minicase: The National Weather Service Reprogramming Summary and Conclusions Useful Websites 8. Controlling Waste, Fraud, and Abuse The Politics of Finding Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Minicase: President Obama Fires an IG Minicase: Who Guards the Guards? Not the Guards Themselves Minicase: Acting IG for Homeland Security—Too Close to the Department Minicase: New York State and Medicaid Minicase: The Massachusetts Inspector General Versus the Governor Minicase: Baltimore’s Departing IG Summary and Conclusions Useful Websites 9. Budgetary Decision-Making and Politics Real-Time Budgeting A Comparison of the Decision-Making Streams Common Themes Reconceptualizing Reform Avenues for Research Summary and Conclusions Useful Websites Notes Author Index Subject Index About the Author