Originally published in 1964, The Politics of the Budgetary Process "forever transformed the way political scientists have published the puzzle" of budgetary decision- making, according to U. of Wisconsin professor Donald F. Kettl (in the foreword for the new edition).

 1. Budgeting as Conflicting Promises.  2. Budgets as Struggles for Power: A Historical Perspective.  3. The Dance of the Dollars: Classical Budgeting.  4. The Collapse of Consensus.  5. The Politics of Dissensus.  6. The Politics of Balancing Budgets.  7. Deficits and Surpluses.  8. Entitlement.  9. Budgeting for Defense. 10. Reform. 11. Budget of Opposites. Glossary. Guide to Acronyms. Select Bibliography. Credits. Index.

As part of the “Longman Classics in Political Science” Series, a new Foreword by Don Kettl of the University of Wisconsin-Madison explores the book's historical and enduring contribution to the discipline. New chapter introductions present students with the key points and topics in each chapter, to better focus their reading. Detailed coverage of the events of September 11, 2001 and their affect on the federal budget processes. New coverage of key, contemporary issues: the huge tax cut of the first Bush budget; the disappearance of the budget surplus; the failure to come to grips with the looming crisis of the retirement of the aging baby-boom generation; the restructuring of defense and homeland security; uncertainties of economic recession following unprecedented boom. Chapter 7 from the Fourth Edition, “The Politics of Radical Reversal” has been condensed and integrated into Chapter 6, “The Politics of Balancing Budgets,” reflecting the fact that the vaunted “Republican Revolution” did not happen. Coverage and prose throughout has been substantially streamlined and economized, offering students the same topics and depth in a more straightforward, understandable fashion.