Budgets in the United States follow rules of presentation and use terms that make sense to few outside the world of government finance. Moreover, practices vary widely among the thousands of governments in the country, between federal, state, and local levels. Understanding Government Budgets offers detailed explanations of each of the different types of information found in budgets, featuring annotated examples from both state and local budgets, as well as the budget of the federal government. It stresses that the choices made about format and organization influence the story a budget tells about government. The goal of the book is to make the format of budgets and the information they contain accessible and understandable, helping users make better sense of government and its performance. Perfect for undergraduate or graduate level courses in budgeting and public administration, Understanding Government Budgets also makes a useful guide to budgets for the average citizen with an interest in how government operates or journalists writing about it.

Governments these days often boast about the efficiency of their electronic systems. Information communication technologies (ICTs) apparently allow public service to become cheaper, faster and more democratic. E-government has become another buzzword, the shining future of the public realm. Critics claim, however, that ICTs’ potential for democratic renewal is hampered by ancient assumptions of how governments should function. But which viewpoint is nearer the truth? In this original and insightful volume, Vincent Homburg demonstrates how the use, form and impact of ICTs are, in fact, entwined within the socio-political, economic and institutional aspects already established by government and public administration. Evangelical or fatalistic perspectives are discredited to show the different realities in which ICTs play a role in our daily lives. Using case studies and vignettes from throughout Europe and the US, the book analyzes what these new technologies actually do, and how they are screened through varying layers of bureaucracy and convention. This is a timely addition to our understanding of what is meant by e-government. It gets behind the political rhetoric. Understanding E-Government: Information Systems in Public Administration will be key reading for all students of public administration, political science, organization theory and information systems.

Budgets in the United States follow rules of presentation and use terms that make sense to few outside the world of government finance. Moreover, practices vary widely among the thousands of governments in the country, between federal, state, and local levels. Understanding Government Budgets offers detailed explanations of each of the different types of information found in budgets, featuring annotated examples from both state and local budgets, as well as the budget of the federal government. It stresses that the choices made about format and organization influence the story a budget tells about government. The goal of the book is to make the format of budgets and the information they contain accessible and understandable, helping users make better sense of government and its performance. Perfect for undergraduate or graduate level courses in budgeting and public administration, Understanding Government Budgets also makes a useful guide to budgets for the average citizen with an interest in how government operates or journalists writing about it.

Public budgets follow rules of presentation and use terms that make sense to few outside the world of public finance. Moreover, practices vary widely among the thousands of governments across the globe, between federal, state, and local levels of government in the United States, and among nonprofit organizations, many of which provide services similar to governments. Understanding Government Budgets, Second Edition offers a detailed examination of each of the different types of information found in budgets, featuring annotated examples from a variety of organizations. It expands on explanations in the previous edition by including a wealth of examples from governments abroad and from the nonprofit sector. The book stresses that the choices made about content, format, and organization influence the story a budget tells. Designed to help citizens, students, and policy makers become more informed users of public budgets, this book makes the format of budgets and the information they contain accessible and understandable, providing users with the tools they need to make better sense of public organizations and their performance. Complete with online instructor support material including sample problems, in-class exercises, and discussion questions for each chapter, Understanding Government Budgets, Second Edition is perfect for undergraduate or graduate-level courses in budgeting and public administration, and offers a useful guide to budgets for citizens with an interest in how government operates.

This book demonstrates how government information can be used to engage students through inquiry and project-based activities, thereby providing opportunities for creative investigation and discovery. Many government agencies and institutions provide educators with curricula, lesson plans, data, and direction—all of it free. But to access this largely hidden world of government information, one needs an understanding of how this government information is organized and knowledge about how to best utilize the finding aids, databases, and other search mechanisms to help guide effective research. This guidebook shows you how to locate high-quality, effective lesson plans developed by the nation's best educators, access reliable government data, and find curated lists of free government sources that are theme-based and reference national standards in social studies and health. Understanding Government Information: A Teaching Strategy Toolkit for Grades 7–12 is ideal for middle school and high school librarians and teachers in all subject areas, public youth services librarians, as well as parents teaching their students in home school based programs. You'll learn how to access expert-developed lesson plans, documents, images, and other primary sources along with suggested activities. The book also includes a teacher toolkit that details strategies for lessons and student activities that can be used across the curriculum.

Previous edition, 1st, published in 2003.

This book demonstrates how government information can be used to engage students through inquiry and project-based activities, thereby providing opportunities for creative investigation and discovery. Many government agencies and institutions provide educators with curricula, lesson plans, data, and direction—all of it free. But to access this largely hidden world of government information, one needs an understanding of how this government information is organized and knowledge about how to best utilize the finding aids, databases, and other search mechanisms to help guide effective research. This guidebook shows you how to locate high-quality, effective lesson plans developed by the nation's best educators, access reliable government data, and find curated lists of free government sources that are theme-based and reference national standards in social studies and health. Understanding Government Information: A Teaching Strategy Toolkit for Grades 7–12 is ideal for middle school and high school librarians and teachers in all subject areas, public youth services librarians, as well as parents teaching their students in home school based programs. You'll learn how to access expert-developed lesson plans, documents, images, and other primary sources along with suggested activities. The book also includes a teacher toolkit that details strategies for lessons and student activities that can be used across the curriculum.

The Committee on House Administration is pleased to present this revised book on our United States Government. This publication continues to be a popular introductory guide for American citizens and those of other countries who seek a greater understanding of our heritage of democracy. The question-and-answer format covers a broad range of topics dealing with the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of our Government as well as the electoral process and the role of political parties.--Foreword.