Why Budgets Matter: Budget Policy and American Politics - Hardcover

Ippolito, Dennis S.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0271022590 ISBN 13: 9780271022598

Publisher: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2003

Synopsis

Much of what government does depends on money. From the nation's founding until today, conflicts over the powers to tax, spend, and borrow have been at the heart of American politics. Why Budgets Matter is a comprehensive account of how these conflicts over budget policy have shaped national politics by determining the size and role of the federal government.

The history of budget policy provides a unique perspective on political change in the United States and helps explain how and why the federal government has grown over time. Dennis Ippolito reviews the different stages of this development—from the era of small government prior to the Civil War through the dramatic transformations of the New Deal and Cold War up to the current challenges of modernizing the welfare state—and shows how each of these stages reflected a dominant vision of the size and role of the federal government, incorporating particular spending, tax, and borrowing philosophies and policies.

Why Budgets Matter offers new insights into the enduring debate over "limited government" versus "big government" in the United States and will be a valuable resource for students, scholars, and policy makers seeking a better understanding of the background to the fiscal problems we face today.

About this title

About the Author:

Dennis S. Ippolito is Eugene McElvaney Professor of Political Science at Southern Methodist University. He has published eight previous books, including Uncertain Legacies: Federal Budget Policy from Roosevelt through Reagan (1990) and Blunting the Sword: Budget Policy and the Future of Defense (1994).

Review:

“It is said that some governments go over their budgets very carefully, while others do it without even noticing.  Ippolito manages to convey something fresh and new about both the revenue and expenditure sides of budgets in this well-written and comprehensive text. But what I found astonishing about the book is its ambition:  it explains why the federal budget works as it does, rather than just describing the process. Ippolito's main thesis, that the tendency toward deficits and growth of government is a product of larger forces in American politics, looked like an anachronism just two years ago. But deficits are back. This book couldn't be more timely, and it couldn't be more important.”

—Michael Munger, Duke University

“A comprehensive, clear, and valuable account of the exceedingly complex history of federal budgeting. Ippolito succeeds admirably.”

—Louis Fisher, Congressional Research Service

“Dennis Ippolito offers the reader an invaluable historical review of American budgeting from the founding of the Republic through the contemporary period. As of now, there is no other publication of this breadth.”

—James D. Savage, University of Virginia

“Ippolito’s analysis of the budget process is an important contribution to the literature on the American budget process. It is unquestionably one of the best books on the subject, similar in scope to Aaron Wildavsky’s classic The New Politics of the Budgetary Process (1988). Overall, Why Budgets Matter: Budget Policy and American Government is an excellent historical account of the federal budget process, and it is intended for a general adult reading audience.”

—Patrick Fisher, Perspectives on Political Science

“This work is particularly notable because it starts with the very beginnings of the US in 1789; most analysis of federal finance concentrates on the post-WWII era.”

—J.L. Mikesell, Choice

“What a timely book. As the U.S. federal government embarks on a course of record-setting debt accumulation, Dennis Ippolito provides the perfect context: the story of American fiscal policy. This is not another book about process. It is not another description of congressional wrangling. And it is not a period piece. In Why Budgets Matter, Ippolito offers us something new. . . . He has provided a broad, sweeping history and a good one at that. What seems to belong, given the scope of the book, is there; what does not belong, is not. The accounting itself is nicely documented and rings true. It also is a pleasure to read. . . . [T]here . . . is much to recommend this book to many different audiences. It is ideal for various undergraduate courses and selected graduate courses as well. Most scholars of American politics and policy will want to have a copy at hand, as will attentive members of the general public.”

—Christopher Wlezien, Political Science Quarterly

“Dennis Ippolito has written another important book on the federal budget. . . . One genuine achievement of the book is the organization of a massive amount of information into historical periods that correspond with larger developments in American politics. Ippolito combines secondary sources with extensive references to government fiscal documents to map budget decisions over time, identify changes in major priorities, and link budget decisions to broader developments in United States domestic and foreign policy.”

—Daniel J Palazzolo, Perspectives on Politics

“One genuine achievement of the book is the historical periods that correspond with larger developments in American politics. Ippolito combines secondary sources with extensive references to government financial documents to map budget decisions over time, identify changes in major priorities, and link budget decisions to broader developments in United States domestic and foreign policy.”

—Daniel J. Palazzolo, American Politics

“This book is without doubt the best analysis yet written of federal budgeting from the late eighteenth century to the present. . . . The subject matter of this splendid book should therefore be of immense interest to students of political history and public policy.”

—Iwan Morgan , Journal of American History

About this edition

• Publisher: The Pennsylvania State University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0271022590
• ISBN 13: 9780271022598
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 344