Title: Rodney E. Stanley, Ph.D.
1The Role of AGA in the Public Policy Budgeting
Process in Tennessee
- Rodney E. Stanley, Ph.D.
- Associate Professor Chair
- Department of Public Administration
- College of Public Service
- Urban Affairs
- Tennessee State University
2Introduction
- Public Policy Defined
- Public Budgeting Defined
- Tennessee Lottery
- On what basis shall it be determined to allocate
X dollars to activity A instead of activity B
(V.O. Key, 1940)? - The Perennial Budgeting Question is in essence a
Public Policy Question. - The Role of AGA in the Public Policy Process
3What is Public Policy?
- Public Policy is the sum of government
activities, whether acting directly or through
agents, as those actions have an influence on the
lives of citizens. - Three Levels of Public Policy
- Policy Choices
- Policy Formulation
- Policy Outputs
- Policy Implementation
- Policy Impacts
- Policy Evaluation
4Public Policy Outputs (choices put into action)
- Inputs -Parochial interests of the stakeholders
involved in the process. - Black Box Political negotiation that is not
considered systematic. - Outputs Budget document outlining purposes and
goals. - Evaluation Results are merged into inputs for
future budgetary decisions. - Environment the political culture of a nation,
state or locality making budgetary decisions.
5Policy Preferences Where Do They Come From?
- Public Policy Budget Theory
- Partisan Politics
- Conservative/Liberal value judgments
- Professional Hunch
6Public Policy Impacts
- Defined as, The effect that both policy choices
outputs have on citizens. - Tennessee Lottery
- What citizen groups were effected by the adoption
of the state lottery?
7Tennessee Lottery Example
- Policy Choices Formulation
- Who were the stakeholders Why this particular
policy? - Policy Outputs Implementation
- What results in Higher Education have we
witnessed? - Policy Impacts Evaluation
- Is the Hope Scholarship working?
8Public Policy Public Budgeting
- How important are fiscal resources in all three
stages of policy formulation, implementation and
evaluation? - On what basis shall it be determined to allocate
X dollars to activity A instead of activity B
(V.O. Key, 1940)?
9What is Public Budgeting?
- A collection of documents that refer to the
financial conditions and the future plans of an
organization (Lee and Johnson, 2004 16). - The documents include revenue information,
expenditures, activities and purposes or goals.
10Purposes and Goals
- What are they?
- What function do purposes and goals serve in
public policy budgeting? - State Policy financial Preferences by those in
power.
11Dimensions of the Public Budget
- Political Instrument for Distributing and
Redistributing Scarce Resources - A Managerial Tool For Describing The Ways and
Means of Program Funding - Economic Instrument
- Accounting and Auditing Instrument
12Services Provided
- Public
- Public Good
- Privatization/Contracting Out
- Externalities
- Responsibility and Accountability to Constituents
13Values in Public Budgeting Public Policy
- Efficiency
- Effectiveness
- Equity
- Accountability
14Accountability The Role of AGA
- What is it and why is it important?
- How is accountability of budgetary
decision-making exercised in America? - Through Democracy
15Where Does Their Budget Authority Come From?
- Constitution
- Explicit or Implied?
- 1921 Budget Reform Act
- Does the Bureaucracy have a constitutional
legitimacy in the budget process?
16State Level
- Governor
- Legislature
- Courts
- Bureaucracy
17How Are Budgetary Decisions Made?
- Mixed-Scanning
- Rationalism
- Process Oriented
- Systematically
18Mixed-Scanning
- Incrementalism and Rationalism combined
- Small Marginal changes are made at the request of
political players, as a result of the political
process. - Based on previous years figures
- Comprehensive analysis utilizes data sources and
statistical techniques
19Problems With Mixed-Scanning
- Assumes that the correct mix of incrementalism
and comprehensive modeling can be determined to
make budgetary decisions.
20Rationalism
- Cost/Benefit Analysis
- Define a problem
- Solution
- Alternative Solutions
- Analysis
- Select the program or service that offers the
greatest good for the greatest number
(Utilitarianism)
21Problems With Rationalism
- Assumes that enough time and data exists to make
every budgetary decision. - Unrealistic
- Complicated
- No specifications for evaluation
22Systems Approach To Budgeting
- Inputs -Parochial interests of the stakeholders
involved in the process. - Black Box Political negotiation that is not
considered systematic. - Outputs Budget document outlining purposes and
goals. - Evaluation Results are merged into inputs for
future budgetary decisions. - Environment the political culture of a nation,
state or locality making budgetary decisions.
23Problems With The Systems Approach
- No one has been successful in identifying what
takes place in the Black Box. - Assumes that all inputs are knowledgeable and
correct about the budgetary decisions at hand. - Assumes all outputs can be evaluated.
24Summary of Public Policy Budgetary
Decision-Making
- The consensus suggests that all four types of
decision-making are utilized in budgeting.
25Conclusion
- On what basis shall it be determined to allocate
X dollars to activity A instead of activity B
(V.O. Key, 1940)? - Incrementalism
- The Perennial Budgeting Question is in essence a
Public Policy Question.