Controlling Public Expenditure: the Changing Roles of Central Budget Agencies--Better Guardians?

• Position: Book Review

Edited by John Wanna, Lotte Jensen, and Jouke de Vries (Edward Elgar Publishing, September 2003)

One of the most important functions of government is to marshal and deploy resources to achieve desired objectives and outcomes. This task is overseen by central budget agencies (such as ministries of finance and treasuries) that have the responsibility of generating tax revenue, and controlling and allocating public expenditures.

This extensive comparative study investigates the changing nature and role of the central budget agencies (CBAs) in 10 countries, reflecting a spectrum of different institutional and constitutional contexts. Eighteen expert contributors offer detailed accounts of the various trajectories that have occurred within their respective CBAs, set against the changing political environment in which they operate. A recurring theme throughout is an evaluation of the power and agenda-setting roles of CBAs, assessing how their influence has grown or waned over time. An important feature of the book is that each chapter attempts to incorporate external scholarly analyses...