The Boundaries of Public Budgeting

Conventions and practicality demand that studies of social phenomena be conducted within accepted disciplinary boundaries. These boundaries demarcate concerns, focus analysis on appropriate relationships, and limit the scope of study to enable theory building. At times, however, developments in a field of study expand beyond accepted boundaries, challenging conventional approaches to research and teaching. For some time, the boundaries of public budgeting have been expanding. Increasing complexity of financial management, growing politicization of budget processes, expansion of budget functions, and continuing turbulence and diversity of budgetary environments confront teachers and students with a proliferation of potential topics for inclusion in university courses. Attempts to accommodate them have involved not merely a broadening of focus, but a reevaluation of the purposes and content of budgeting education. Traditionally, the study of public budgeting and financial management has been divided among several disciplines, notably economics, political science, management theory, and accounting, with relatively little overlap. Classifications, processes, and techniques have dominated the field, with less attention given to politics and policies. Teaching and research have usually been conducted at a high level of generality or focused upon specific cases: systematic attempts to relate theory to environment have been relatively few. With new concerns, these conventional boundaries have begun to blur, raising problems of conceptualization and approach. This article attempts to encapsule the current concerns of those called upon to teach and learn a subject that seems to be moving faster than we can pursue.' It does not pretend to reconceptualize the discipline or even to summarize the diverse course offerings now available, let alone lay down an authoritative pedagogy.2 Its purpose is rather to trace the changes that have been and are occurring, to discuss their implications for the study of public budgeting, and to contribute to a redrawing of familiar boundaries

Political science · Accounting and Organizational Management · Local Government Finance and Decentralization · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research

• Budgeting

  Aaron Wildavsky•Budgeting•1975

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• The scissors crisis in public finance

  Open Access•Daniel Tarschys•Policy Sciences•1983

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• The Myth of the Annual Budget

  Naomi Caiden•Public Administration Review•1982

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• The Myth of Incrementalism

  Lance T Leloup•Polity•1978

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• Explaining Presidential Priorities

  Open Access•Gregory W Fischer, Mark S Kamlet•American Political Science Review•1984

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