a. Federal budgeting that is also known as a public one plays a vital role in the life of society because it is used to support the country. Unfortunately, it is often associated with controversies and dissatisfaction since it affects governmental decisions and leads to debate. Budgeting can be considered from various perspectives. For instance, welfare economics treats it as a source of domestic and foreign aid that is needed to support those in need. In the framework of the public choice theory, budgeting is a set of promises developed by politics to unite the population and make them understand who contributes and receives what.
For public administration, this element is a tool that allows achieving policy goals, ensuring compliance to rules, and prioritizing the allocation of public resources. For political science, it is a process of spending money that is often investigated in order to reveal the way it can be improved to benefit the public. Finally, political anthropology treats budgeting as a mechanism used to develop political processes and control society. Realizing that public budgeting can be defined in different ways, I am supposed to ensure that I consider every aspect when putting together a government budget.
b. Policies developed by the authorities reveal how citizens should act to support the country. In such a manner, it is possible to claim that the policy is a guiding tool that affects relationships among the population. Budgeting can be perceived as a statement of the policy because it occurs to be a set of terms that reveal in what way individuals are supposed to coexist within the ranges of this policy. In other words, budgeting allows people realize who is supposed to provide something and who is expected to obtain something. This fact is important for policymakers, public managers, and clientele groups of public agencies since they have to develop those plans that allow receiving enough funds to practice policies and improve societal welfare.
c. Policymakers have an opportunity to affect the budget process when their decisions start being practiced. For instance, they can affect taxation or retirement payments. Public managers are able to influence the country’s workforce and determine the amount of resources needed to maintain different programs and facilities. Clientele groups can affect budgeting, as they take a particular case to the public and emphasize the necessity of funding. For example, they can look for support of minorities or victims. These people influence the way funds are allocated nationwide, emphasizing the effectiveness of the proposed changes and rationalizing them from different perspectives.
d. The budget cycle is a process that is practiced when governmental bodies develop a budget and then evaluate the way it was used, focusing on its effectiveness. Firstly, the draft plan is created and approved. Then, money is collected and allocated so that it can be used according to the identified purposes. Finally, audit findings are analyzed and corrections for the future are made. People who want to influence public policy need to understand the budget cycle because it links goals and activities. The cycle also allows analyzing each activity separately and revealing whether standards were established.
e. The federal and local budget cycles differ in the way they deal with a fiscal deficit, as a balanced budget is not adopted nationwide. The federal government has an opportunity to print more money in some cases unlike the local one. Moreover, changes implemented by the federal government are to be adopted in every state while local alterations have regional limits. Federal budget includes more money obtained from taxes, but it has less options. In addition to that, there are differences in the stages, as the approval of state budget is not that complex. People who want to shape public policy need to understand these alterations as they need to follow different processes.