Line Item Budgeting

13) The public sector is constrained in several of its modes of operation. Moreover, the budget of the public sector is one such area that is heavily regulated by a rigid set of controls. However, means of tightly managing the budget does have its advantages and in relation to the practice of line-item budgeting “cost categories are established for the recording of all expenditures, and backup bookkeeping systems contain sufficient detail to ensure that all disbursements are made in accordance with the law” (Starling, 2011, p. 506). Thus, through this standardized approach, line-item budgeting can minimize the possibility for the budget to be wrongly applied. Alternatively, stipulating the precise conditions in which the budget may be used …show more content…
The public sector must receive authorization to make any type of purchase (Starling, 2011, p. 506). Ultimately, the presence of red tape can severely inhibit the abilities of public administrators and stymie progress. Alternatively, the rise of excessive bureaucracy in the criminal justice system has had a profoundly debilitating impact. Law enforcement personnel are required to not only enforce the law, but to personally uphold it. Thus, agents of justice are duty-bound to protect the rights of offenders. However, such a strict adherence to the rules can conceivably interfere with the role of law enforcement in arresting lawbreakers. For instance, officers must obtain a warrant to conduct a search on private property or face the risk of the evidence collected being found inadmissible in court. Such formalities can be frustrating for law enforcement when they must granted license to perform a search despite the existence of circumstances that strongly suggest an individual’s involvement in illegal activity. Furthermore, public administrators may experience a comparable level of dissatisfaction with line-item budgeting if they must be granted clearance or review protocol in order for every budget-related decision to be