Alternative Budgets

Book excerpt: Alternative budgets are presented as a method of political mobilization that advances fiscally responsible government allocation of resources in this treatise on the enlightened alternatives to the neoconservative agenda of slashing social services. The basics of budgeting, the technical and political contexts of budgeting, and the relationship between budget legislation and fiscal constraints on governments are among the issues discussed to make the more esoteric aspects of budgeting understandable. A budget that emphasizes the needs of poor people, women, and the environment is outlined with information on how to construct alternative budgets, analyze the possibilities of government funding, and mobilize political activists to propose clear, affordable alternatives to neoliberal government cutbacks.