Deck 1: Introduction

Question 1

In the United States, who led the way in the establishment of formal budget procedures?

A) The federal government
B) Local governments
C) State governments
D) Major universities

Answer 1

B

Question 2

What is the term for the most significant of early public budget reforms, where a governor or mayor would be responsible for preparing a proposed budget document and include all of the operating agencies of the jurisdiction?

A) Executive budget
B) Program budgeting
C) Short ballot
D) Administrative management

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The major political factors prompting U.S. budget reform in the 20th century were the expanded scope of government programs, growing deficits, and especially concern about waste and corruption in government finance.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Because business practices were not particularly exemplary at the turn of the 20th century, public management reforms were largely invented in the public sector rather than being transferred into government from the outside.

Question 5

Performance management begins with setting objectives, then publicly reporting on results and redefining programs based on citizen response to the measured results.

Question 6

While most state and local governments employ formal capital budgeting techniques, federal agencies typically do not.

Question 7

Limited or bounded rationality as a theory of decision making asserts that "real" decision making involves a conflict of organizational and individual interests and a corresponding clash of information that results in the accommodation of diverse partisan political interests through bargaining.

Question 8

Public budgeting is characterized by a series of five logical steps: First, all of a community's goals are ranked according to priority. Second, all possible alternatives are identified. Third, the costs of each alternative are compared with anticipated benefits. Fourth, judgments are made as to which alternative comes closest to satisfying the relevant needs or desires. Fifth, the alternative with the highest payoff and/or least cost is chosen.

Question 9

Public budgetary decisions are necessarily political.

Question 10

Public budgetary decisions are necessarily political.

Question 11

Briefly describe at least three activities that are included in the term "budgeting."

Question 12

What is the single most important difference between public and private sector budgets?

Question 13

According to budgeting scholar Allen Schick, budget reforms focusing on accountability in U.S. budgeting had gone through three stages by the 1960s. What were the concerns or emphases in each stage?

Question 14

Name and describe two analysis and planning tools that have become important in improving public budgeting systems since the 1960s.

Question 15

What is meant by the term public goods in the context of public budgeting?

Question 16

What are the three most common budget documents employed by state and local government entities, and what is contained in each?

Question 17

What is the one responsibility that most sharply differentiates federal budget decisions from state and local budget decisions?

Question 18

Discuss what is meant by this statement: "Public budgeting involves the selection of ends and the means to reach those ends." Include the major characteristics of public budgeting versus private sector budgeting, and describe the role of information in budgetary decision making.

Question 19

Briefly describe the three predominant theories of decision making discussed in the chapter and the main emphasis in each that differentiate one from another theory.

Question 20

"Most of the major reforms, whether attempted or proposed, in public budget systems have been intended to reorganize existing information and to provide participants with new and greater quantities of information." (Introduction, page 16).
Describe the two types of information that have been the focus of budget reform and explain the differences between the two in terms of what they emphasize about public budgeting decision making. Hint: What does each type of information tell you about the budget?