Foundational Ideas
Foundational Ideas
Here you will find why we believe Rethinking Budgeting is necessary, plus other concepts with application across all parts of the budgeting process. The Rethinking Budgeting initiative is not finished, so this section will evolve and grow as the initiative moves forward.
Why Do We Need to Rethink Budgeting?
Local governments have long relied on incremental, line item budgeting where last year’s budget becomes next year’s budget with changes around the margin. Though this form of budgeting has its advantages and can be useful under circumstances of stability, it also has important disadvantages. The primary disadvantage is that it causes local governments to be slow to adapt to changing conditions.
Using Behavioral Science for Better Decision Making
Behavioral scientists study how we interact with each other and our environment, in ways that impact our preferences, decisions, and behaviors. This series of papers and webinars, developed with BehavioralSight, takes an inside look into the psychology shaping budgeting and finance decisions as well as how you can use this knowledge to design better processes and achieve better outcomes.
What's Fair? Exploring the Behavioral Science
Issues of fairness and justice are central to the work of all government officials. This series, developed with Ethical Systems, helps define fairness and provide recommendations for local governments navigating issues of fairness within the context of public finance.
The Accountability Trap: Why Too Much Focus on Results Can Make You Worse Off - And What to Do About It
Local governments are responsible for stewardship of taxpayer money and for providing important public services. Thus, this is an understandable interest that the government (and its staff) be “held accountable.” What’s the problem? An over-focus on “accountability” raises anxieties and impedes communication: leading to the poor performance that an emphasis on accountability is intended to prevent! This paper provides a better solution, based on world-famous work of organizational psychologist Adam Grant.
Bridging Political Divides in Local Government
Political polarization is the leading social rift of our time. Perhaps the clearest example is the U.S. federal government. Cross-party collaboration is currently at an all-time low. Political conflict is not limited to federal government officials. It also affects the general public. As one group of social scientists put it, "the most significant fault line in the second decade of the twenty-first century [in America] is not race, religion, or economic status but political party affiliation."