Course Title: Public Budgeting
Campus Course Code: URPA 5326
Campus: UT Arlington
Program: MPA
Course Description
Public budgeting is a very extensive and rapidly changing field. What public budgeting is depends on who is asking the question and on prevailing collective views regarding the role and responsibility of government. Many questions and, thus, many answers are possible. How governments distribute the burden to pay for public services and how those services are distributed among competing and conflicting claims are essential questions of public budgeting. However, the “big question” of public budgeting is how to fairly allocate resources within a political context and in an environment where needs are always greater than resources and people always want more than they can afford.
This course will introduce you to the principles and practices used by federal, state, and local governments to acquire and spend money within the context of American democracy, capitalism, federalism, and economics. The primary objective of this course is to provide you with the practical skills and theoretical knowledge that will enable you to be an effective participant in the budgeting process and a critical consumer and producer of research relevant to public budgeting.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
- demonstrate knowledge of different budget formats, budgeting strategies, and theories of budgeting;
- demonstrate knowledge of the various government revenue sources, major expenditures, and borrowing mechanisms;
- demonstrate the ability to analyze budgeting within the ideological framework of democracy, capitalism, federalism, decision-making theory, and economics;
- demonstrate the ability to criticize, analyze and interpret quantitative data; and
- demonstrate proficiency at researching, analyzing, and writing concise reports that deal with complex materials.
Materials
Visit the Bookstores page for links to campus bookstores that provide information on course materials.
Credits:3
Level:Graduate
Faculty
Alejandro Rodriguez
aro@uta.edu
817-272-3357