The logic of estimation: Describing the budgetary work of program managers

Abstract

In estimating budgetary needs, public managers focus on the major elements in delivery of public services, resources, work, and objectives/results. The flow of reasoning is backward along the process of service delivery--from objectives, to the work plan, to resource requirements. This understanding or model of budgeting, called “the logic of estimation,” is prominent in budgetary texts and other public administration literature, but it deserves additional attention and elaboration. Such effort at new attention shows the origins and development of the model in the public administration literature of the last half century, and the literature of an even longer period provides further concepts and measures by which the manager estimates. This new attention and elaboration holds benefits for teaching, research, and practice alike, and the current efforts toward results-oriented budgeting make it especially appropriate today.