Book Description

Most current books on government budgeting focus on thepolicy process for making budget decisions. They also focus almost exclusivelyon the federal budget. The Human Side of Budgeting instead approaches thebudget from a local government management point of view, and makes the casethat traditional budget systems work against almost everything we know aboutgood management (i.e., that most of our employees are not, in fact, lazy andstupid). The Human Side of Budgeting was written both for pre-careerstudents of public management as well as more senior managers who wonder whytheir budgeting systems produce such pathological behavior in their staff andgoverning bodies. "It might sound like an oxymoron to refer to a book aboutbudgeting as engaging, but this one is. The Human Side of Budgeting iswell written and provocative throughout. Lazenby's argument is audaciousenough to cause the optimistic reader to stay with it because it offers analternative to a system that is a continuing source of frustration and for thedoubter to remain engaged because it looks as if there just has to be a catchsomewhere ." Phillip Cooper, author of By Order of the President & Professor, Portland State University Hatfield School of Government "This book makes an important contribution to a criticalpiece of the puzzle for those wanting to move from expenditure-based budgetingto revenue-based budgeting." Douglas Morgan, co-author of Local PublicBudgeting "In creating The Human Side Of Budgeting Scott Lazenby hasprovided us with a book that fits perfectly between tomes on the politics ofpublic budgeting and the texts and handbooks on the mechanics of publicbudgeting. The fact that no one has filled this niche before is as astoundingas it is disheartening." Jim Hough, City Manager Emeritus, Banks, Oregon "I really, really like this!" Phil Keisling, Director,Center for Public Service, Portland State University & former OregonSecretary of State