Much deliberation has existed concerning normative budgetary theory at the local government level. The vast array of local government organizational types precipitates many levels of involvement. However, there is limited evidence concerning the level of involvement of elected officials within the process, nor the amount of influence wielded by administrative actors. In addition, there are lingering questions concerning the extent at which external factors contribute to involvement. This study examines the level of involvement of actors within the budgetary process among the commission-manager form of county governments in North Carolina. The researcher has proposed a three-tier budgetary dichotomy-duality model as a foundation for organizing the study. The three elements of the model consist of institutional characteristics to account for external factors affecting county governments, commissioner characteristics and county manager characteristics. The research questions and hypotheses posited by the researcher examine the relationship between each element of the model and the level of involvement of the actors. This is an exploratory study using quantitative data as the basis for the research. Surveys were mailed to 300 county commissioners and all 100 county managers in the state of North Carolina. There were 126 county commissioner surveys returned along with 84 county manager surveys. In addition, two separate dependent variables were utilized to better determine involvement in the budget formulation process. The data was analyzed using logistic regression analysis. The findings suggest that there are several factors which influence budgetary involvement. Among the institutional factors, unfunded mandates and the size of the budget lead to more involvement by county managers. For county commissioners, older commissioners, especially those who have retired, stated more involvement along with Republican commissioners and those who serve on larger commissions. Experience of the county manager also played a role as more inexperienced managers could expect more involvement by commissioners. Managers stated more involvement if they were primarily responsible for budget formulation, if they identified a particular problem area in budget formulation, and if commissioners actually agreed with most of their budget recommendations. From a public administration standpoint, there is definitely a convoluted line in the politics/administration dichotomy among county governments in the North Carolina county government budget process. It is clear that certain factors and actor characteristics create an atmosphere for increased involvement for some actors compared to others. The budgetary dichotomy-duality model does provide for some residual usefulness in determining levels of involvement for local government actors. If applied to a single government unit during the budget formulation process, it could be determined as to which group of actors has the most influence between the elected officials and the administration.

Participatory budgeting (PB) is a governing mechanism whereby citizens decide how to allocate part of a local budget. It promises greater accountability, efficiency, and citizen participation in the budgetary process with minimal cost and effort. The process is in place in hundreds of cities in Latin America, but what is unclear in the scholarship is what factors and pre-conditions determine its success. This case study of Córdoba, Argentina is useful for analyzing whether a consideration of pre-conditions is useful in predicting success. This study isolates the primary influential factors to determine why only 10% of projects have been completed and participation rates are declining by: examining the structure, funding, history, and political and social context of participatory budgeting; comparing Córdoba to other similar countries that have adopted participatory budgeting; conducting key informant interviews; and participating in PB workshops. Of the pre-conditions identified in the study, waning political will and political distractions most influenced the evolution of PB in Córdoba. Despite these setbacks, key individuals both inside the government, such as Director of Participatory Budgeting Jorge Guevara, and outside, such as the members of the Grupo Promotor de Participación Ciudadana (GPPC), operated as a web to generate social capital where institutional knowledge and political will were lacking. The presence of such a web suggests that given the opportunity, PB in Córdoba may yet improve and thrive. I conclude by recommending a strategic planning methodology as a means for cities to independently evaluate their participatory budgeting performance. / text

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa entrenches the status of local government as a distinct sphere of government.1 In terms of section 40(1), the government of the Republic is constituted of three spheres, namely, the national, provincial, and local spheres of government. The local sphere of government has a constitutional mandate of ensuring the provision of services to communities in a sustainable manner.2 Furthermore, municipalities are required ‘to strive to achieve their mandate of the provision of essential services within their financial and administrative capacity.