The Concept of Budgeting as Political Choice - Admission/Application Essay Example

Introduction Public budgeting is a part of public administration, which politicians view, as an event that is advantageous to them, as there is the formation of the budget in their surrounding and hence there is a significant tension due to public accountability and public acceptability. This is because public budgeting involves allocation of resources in regard to the opportunity cost in that, if one consumer gets some resources it is definite that the other consumer will not get the same resources (Stillman 317). Public accountability is an obligation of the agents as well as entrepreneurs in the public domain who have access to public resources, to take responsibility for social and political affairs to the people who assign these responsibilities to them. In relation to public budgeting, the accountability of the various parties especially accountants involves the analysis on the amount that is in the budget to the actual expenses in anticipation (Milakovich 316). Public acceptability is the tendency by people to accept or refuse certain proposals made by other parties. The proposal may include public budgets, which directly affect the people. Public budgets affect the various people in the society thus most people do not accept these budgets because they lack the knowhow on the preparation of the budget. For a public budget to get public acceptability, it is crucial for the people preparing the budget to have a dialogue with the people so as to achieve a relationship with them which is productive (Milakovich 316). In relation to the spy satellite which was a satellite made by the United Launch Alliance, there was the malfunctioning of the satellite just after deployment thus leading to its destruction through a mutual agreement between various stakeholders including the United States government. There were a lot of damages from the destruction of the device ranging from the hydrazine material which was hazardous as well as the presence of beryllium. The satellite also leads to a nuclear exposure threat due to its power core. As a result of the destruction of the device, the public fails to accept that there was no nuclear power core and that there is the clearing of the damages that the satellite led to. Most nations including china and Russia consider the satellite failure as a space race. They never accept that it was a mere technical itch that led to the failure of the satellite. There is public accountability, first by the USA government where it admits that there was some actual damage due to the failure of the satellite. There is no acceptability by the US following allegations that the destruction of the satellite was to ensure that the technology in use does not fall prey to other foreign nations, who has interests in the same satellite. In reference to the spy satellite, there was tension because; on one hand, there is a determination by the US government to destroy the satellite due to public acceptability and public accountability. There is a Herculean tension leading to interference in the public budget because for the destruction of the satellite. This is because there was a requirement of forty million dollars to oversee the destruction of the satellite in space. The amount was not in the public budget; thus there was the foregoing of other activities to ensure that there were enough resources for the destruction of the satellite (Stillman 317). Considering a situation where there is the preparation of the public budget for a country, the budget undergoes preparation by the ministry of finance and then undergoes debate by politicians, who happens to be law makers of the country before there is the publication of the final budget for the public to read. In this case, the politicians will allow the budget to pass if it favors their needs rather than the needs of the public. In this example, public acceptability exists in that people do not consider the budget helpful to them because there is no consultation made during the preparation of the budget rather the public gets the final budget which the politicians have given an ascent. To ensure that the public accepts the budget, the people responsible for the preparation of the budget must ensure that the budget favors the public instead of the politicians. There should also be consultation with the public during the preparation of the budget to make sure that it satisfies the needs of the public. There is tension because the budget is for the public thus, if the public does not accept the budget, then the budget is of no use. Public acceptability is essential for the implementation of the budget as seen in most countries. This is where the politician ascent to the public budget if it favors their interests rather than the interests f the public. To illustrate Rubins argument, there is consideration of public accountability where during the preparation of the annual budget for most countries, tension exists due to public accountability. This is where the people, who control public resources including the ministry of finance, do not take responsibility for the fiscal as well as social responsibilities that come with the public budget. The politicians do not take responsibility for the preparation of the, budget though, they gave an ascent to it. Public accountability creates a formidable tension in the creation and implementation of the public budget in that. This is because if the public does not take accountability for the implementation of the public budget by paying taxes, then it is obvious that the public budget fails. This is because for the budget to be operational, the public must make their contribution in terms of payment of taxes. Thus, most countries face the hardship of preparing a national budget due to public accountability and public acceptability (Milakovich 316). Conclusion From the writing, it is clear that for public budgeting to be a success, then there is consideration of many factors including the political forces as well as the mindset of the public towards the preparation of the budget where people do not consider the budget as prime. Thus, concluding that, the major tension in public budgeting lies between public acceptability and public accountability. Work citedTop of Form Milakovich, Michael E, and George J. Gordon. Public Administration in America. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012. Print. Bottom of Form Stillman, Richard J. Public Administration: Concepts and Cases. Boston, Mass: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. Read More