Answer to Question #314037 in Political Science for Alungile

Question

Question 1: List and Discuss the four major steps taken in the process (budget cycle) of a building a state or local government budget. (40)

Question 2: List and discuss the top three expenditures in state budgets overall and substantiate your selection. (30)

Answer 1

Quiz1. The budget cycle consists of four phases:

 (1) preparation and submission. The preparation and submission phase is the most difficult to describe because it has been subjected to the most reform efforts. Experiments in reformulating the preparation process abound. Although institutional units may exist over time, both procedures and substantive content vary from year to year.

(2) approval. Revenue and Appropriation Bills. The budget is approved by a legislative body, whether Congress, a state legislature, a county board of supervisors, a city council, or a school board. The important role of the legislature in the United States traces back to the American rebellion against "taxation without representation." For this reason, the "power of the purse" is considered to be a crucial responsibility of the people's representatives. The legislature reviews the executive's budget recommendations and often has access to the original agency budget requests, which enables it to make comparisons. 

(3) execution. Once a budget is approved, it’s time to implement it. Unlike the federal government, business owners like you can’t impound funds to prevent wasteful spending. But you can adjust your your business tactics to handle increases in spending or lower than expected revenues.

(4) Evaluate Your Budget Regularly. Even the best planned budget should be reevaluated from time to time and, if need be, revised. Changes in revenue, adjustments to costs and new information about your customer base are examples of things that may require budget revisions.

Quiz2. The three primary national spending categories are mandatory spending, discretionary spending and interest on the total national debt.