Practice Test 1: Public Budgeting Classics
Practice questions on Rubin’s article about classic budgeting scholarship and future research directions.
5 questions · pass mark 50% · try 5 free
1 What is the main purpose of Rubin’s article on budget classics?
- To rank cities by budget performance
- To identify enduring classics and suggest a future research agenda
- To explain only accounting rules
- To replace earlier budgeting theories entirely
The article’s central purpose is to identify classic works in public budgeting and use them to frame future research.
2 Rubin presents budgets as purely technical documents with little connection to politics.
- True
- False
The article treats budgets as closely tied to politics, power, conflict, and priorities rather than as merely technical exercises.
3 Which themes are central to classic public budgeting scholarship? Select all that apply.
Select all that apply
- Political conflict and bargaining
- Institutional effects on decisions
- The idea that prior allocations influence current budgets
- The claim that history is irrelevant to budgeting research
Classic budgeting scholarship emphasizes political dynamics, institutional structure, and continuity through prior allocations, not the irrelevance of history.
4 What does incrementalism primarily help explain?
- Why all budgets are balanced
- Why budgeting ignores prior years
- Why change is often limited and previous allocations matter
- Why public budgets are identical across governments
Incrementalism is used to explain limited change and the influence of past allocations on present budgeting.
5 Rubin suggests that classic theories should still be used and reexamined in contemporary research.
- True
- False
A key message is that classic theories remain useful foundations for new research questions.