Budget repair or budget spectacle? The passage of Wisconsin’s Act 10

Abstract

Strategic planning processes use budgets to implement control and accountability. However, budgets can also be used to generate support for strategic decisions, for example by creating a political spectacle. A political spectacle is a problem engineered to have a specific political impact. This paper investigates politicians’ use of a state budget as a political manoeuvre to defend strategic decisions regarding public employee unions in Wisconsin. The analysis shows how the 2011 state budget in Wisconsin was used to create a political spectacle to generate support for eliminating collective bargaining for public workers, especially public (state) school teachers.

Keywords:

• Collective bargaining
• government budget
• political spectacle
• Wisconsin Act 10

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Aimee Pernsteiner

Aimee Pernsteiner is an Assistant Professor of Accounting, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, USA.

D’Arcy Becker

D’Arcy Becker is Professor of Accounting and Department Chairperson, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, USA.

Matthew Fish

Matthew Fish is an Assistant Professor of Accounting, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, USA.

William F. Miller

William F. Miller is Associate Professor of Accounting, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, USA.

Dawna Drum

Dawna Drum is an Assistant Professor of Accounting, Western Washington University, USA.