POLS 628                                                          Fall, 2007

Govt. Budgeting & Fiscal Policy                        Dr. Frank McKenna Jr.

Class: R 6:00pm                                                 118 Williams Hall

OLSC 206                                                          H: 352-2326

Office Hrs: By Appointment                              O: 372-7273

Governmental budgeting is all about politics; whether you are talking about federal spending for defense or local expenditures for roads, politics is the overarching theme. The techniques of budgeting and fiscal policy can either bring into sharp focus the political debate involved in a particular program or they can be used to de-emphasize unresolved political issues. In part, we study and practice the use of various budgetary techniques in order to help us determine precisely what is at stake; however, we should never loose sight of the political objectives of any public program. The distinctions between governmental budgeting and fiscal policy are at times vague and artificial; in this course, we will not pursue this avenue of inquiry and instead divide the material by function. A rough four part format should help to keep us focused on the tasks at hand. Hopefully, by the end of the semester you will walk away with a rather balanced perspective on this important topic in government.

COURSE BOOKS:

Aronson, J. Richard & Eli Schwartz. Management Policies in Local Government Finance. Washington, DC: The International City/County Management Association, 2004.

Banovetz, James M. (ed.) Managing Local Government Finance: Cases in Decision Making. Washington, DC: The International City/County Management Association, 1996.

Richard Anne. Fighting Terrorist Financing: Transatlantic Cooperation & International Institutions. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2006.

Wildavsky, Aaron and Naomi Caiden. The New Politics of the Budgetary Process. (5^th ed.) New York: Longman Publishers, 2004.

KSG CASES:

Donahue, John. The Endicott Town Meeting. June 1, 1999.

Donahue, John and Howard Husock. Municipal Decentralization in Buenos Aires: Creating the Municipality of Hurlingham. February 1, 1999.

Hrivnak, Martin. The Boeing Tanker Lease Deal. August 9, 2006.

Kelman, Steve. Business Process Transformation at the CIA. August 1, 1999.

Techajareonvikul, Aswin. Liquor Tax Reform in Thailand: Competing Interests and Objectives. February 27, 2007.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

In a nutshell two one question essay exams, twelve group Banovetz and Harvard Kennedy School of Government (KSG) case exercises, one capstone group case analysis paper, and nineteen in-class group exercises constitute the course requirements. Each exam is worth 50 points. The six KSG and six Banovetz case papers are worth ten points each. The nineteen group in-class exercises are valued at five points each. Hence the grand total is 415 points with 40 points equal to one letter grade (360+ = A, 320-359 = B, etc.). All material (except for the nineteen in-class group assignments) must be posted to the appropriate boxes on Blackboard and no place else.

As graduate students, you are given considerable leeway in posting your work with the exceptions of the exams. They must be posted on the noted due dates in order to avoid a grade reduction penalty. The group assignments (in-class exercises, Banovetz, and KSG work) can be posted or handed in (in the case of the in-class work) at your discretion but you would be foolish to prolong such submissions by more than a week (it just backs up and you end up chasing your tail). The in-class exercises, which are based on the Aronson & Schwartz text are rather straightforward if not perfunctory and hence should be a nightly submission provided your group has read the relevant chapter or chapters before coming to class. The Banovetz and KSG exercises will most likely require some extra-class work and time for reflection and linkage work. Both exams are to be completed on an individual basis; no group collaboration unless, of course, you want to face the Dean. The capstone case paper, however, must be a group effort.

I like to employ group work for three reasons. One, it clearly distributes the work load provided all members do their fair share. Two, it is a great interactive learning experience. And three, it forces all members to seek consensus even in the light of professional or partisan differences. As such, I tend to leave group governance alone with one exception. If a group confronts me with a member not doing their work I tend to deal with it in a simple yet decisive manner: slackers are stricken from the group and forced to complete such work on an individual basis. IMHO, the benefits of group work far exceed the costs and I believe most students would agree. In any event, that is the format for much of this class and only the foolish would proceed otherwise.

Not to insult your intelligence as graduate students, I must state for the record that I don’t employ a curve, have no tolerance for cheaters or slackers, and don’t except late work without a penalty. Obviously, the issuance of Incomplete grades are rare and only in the most unusual of circumstances, with short time lines, and in certain cases with sufficient documentation. For your protection I strongly recommend that you prepare all your essays in a word processing program and then copy and paste them into the appropriate response boxes. Do not work directly in the response boxes without adequate backup and save this backup or files until after you receive your final grade. As graduate students, the use of citations should be second nature; I don’t expect to be overwhelmed with them … just enough to demonstrate your mastery of the material and to support your point. I require them for all but in short five point in-class exercises; without them no points are awarded. Keep in mind that I want citations and not mere references so plan on inserting them on a sentence by sentence basis. I don’t need many; just a few per submission will work or when specifically requested. I simply require that you document your mastery of the material and citations are the most appropriate means for achieving this objective There are three likely sources for your references. One, the four textbooks; just cite these as (author p#) and yes include the parentheses. For this reference and the next do not cite more than two pages at a time. I want specific page numbers that I can look up not general references to a bunch of pages. Two, traditional sources outside of this class; remember keep them two pages and just use a style guide for the posting of complete citations. And Three, internet references; in this case I want you to embed in your essay the very specific page/URL that you consulted. If you haven’t done this before consult tech support or follow my instructions. Go to the top of your browser and copy the specific URL by right clicking and selecting copy from the menu, paste that address into your essay and move your cursor to the last character of that address and tap your space bar. Your word processing program and Blackboard (you may need to repeat this last step once you post to Blackboard depending on your software) will automatically produce the link (it should turn blue and get underlined). This last method is actually a piece of cake once you do it a couple of times. And finally, Wikipedia cites are not valid for this purpose given the open nature of the source.

The format for each class is similar. I will usually start out with some kind of short presentation or distribution of material (the topics are highlighted in red below). Second, the groups will assemble and tackle the assignments for the evening that can include a combination of Aronson & Schwartz and Banovetz or KSG exercises. And finally third, I will then show a video dealing with some aspect of policy with fiscal relations and if not totally exhausted , bored, or burnt out after a week of classes we can discuss said programs. Though you will need to eventually read all course material (can’t complete the exams or provide the required citations for the Banovetz and KSG cases without doing so), at a minimum you need to read the assigned Aronson & Schwartz material for each class. Once the class starts, I’ll post a variety of PowerPoint files and documents to provide additional support.

COURSE OUTLINE:

Part One: Sub-national Governments & Budget Theory

August 30--- Course Introduction

                         Wildavsky Chapters One & Two

                        Aronson & Schwartz Chapter One & Exercise

                       Banovetz Case One

                            Wildavsky Chapters Three & Four

                            Aronson & Schwartz Chapter Two & Exercise

                           KSG: Municipal Decentralization in Buenos Aires

                              Wildavsky Chapters Five & Six

                            Aronson & Schwartz Chapter Three & Exercise

                             Banovetz Case Two

                             Wildavsky Chapters Seven & Eight

                             Aronson & Schwartz Chapter Four & Exercise

                            KSG: Business Process Transformation at the CIA

Part Two: Budgeting Techniques

October 4---No Class: Fall Break

                        Wildavsky Chapter Nine

                       Aronson & Schwartz Chapters Five & Six & Exercises

                       Banovetz Case Three

                        Wildavsky Chapter Ten

                        Aronson & Schwartz Chapters Seven to Nine & Exercises

                        KSG: The Endicott Town Meeting

                        Exam One Due by Friday 10/20 @ 5:00pm

Part Three: Revenue Generation & Fighting Terrorism

                         Richard Chapter One

                          Aronson & Schwartz Chapter Ten Exercise

                         Banovetz Case Four

                          Richard Chapter Two

                         Aronson & Schwartz Chapters Eleven & Twelve & Exercises

                        KSG: The Boeing Tanker Lease Deal

Part Four: Budgetary Management

                          Richard Chapter Three

                         Aronson & Schwartz Chapters Thirteen & Fourteen & Exercises

                        Banovetz Case Five

                            Richard Chapter Four

                            Aronson & Schwartz Chapters Fifteen & Sixteen & Exercises

                            KSG: Liquor Tax Reform in Thailand

November 22---No Class: Thanksgiving Day

                           Richard Chapter Five

                          Aronson & Schwartz Chapters Seventeen & Eighteen & Exercises

                          Banovetz Case Six

                          Richard Annexes

                           Aronson & Schwartz Chapter Nineteen & Exercise

                          KSG: Scale Without Growth

December 13---Informal Meeting: SamBs - remaining material due by 12/14 @ 5:00pm

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