Who Controls the Budget: The Legislature or the Executive?
International Monetary Fund (IMF) IMF Working Paper No. 05/115
Country-specific factors prevent a strong linear relationship
between the legislature`s budgetary powers and the extent of its
separation from the executive. Electoral and voting systems,
bicameralism, constitutional and legal constraints, voluntary
contracts of political parties, and long-standing traditions all
influence the relative budgetary powers of executives and
legislatures. Differences in the legislature`s budgetary
authority in twenty-eight countries with five different forms of
government are examined. It is concluded that differences in
budgetary powers within a particular form of government are as
great as those between different forms of government. Number of
Pages in PDF File: 27 Keywords: Legislature, executive,
separation, presidential, parliament, budget, power JEL
Classification: E62, H11, H30, H50, H61, H83, K10, K40, P48,
P51working papers series Date posted: March 3,