Zero-Based Budgeting Comes to Washington
Wilson, James Q.
THE ALTERNATIVE: AN AMERICAN SPECTATOR VOLUME TEN, NUMBER FIVE / FEBRUARY 1977 James Q. Wilson Zero-Based Budgeting Comes to Washiugtou You remember ZBB--tkat government reform candidate...
...the speaker gasped for breath, as he shook convulsively with laughter, "that we are analyzing whether it makes sense to leave Independence Hall open...
...Gotcha, chief...
...James Q. Wilson is Henry Lee Sbattuck Professor of Government at Harvard...
...The Director seemed pleased to have so distinguished a visitor, and asked Mr...
...Crestfallen, Pettypoint said plaintively, "Well, maybe the Park Service is not the place to begin...
...Right away...
...Nothing's ever secret any more...
...Murmurs of outraged disbelief erupted, but the Director silenced the room with a firm glare...
...As I was saying," Pettypoint went on, somewhat stiffly, "we then ask the Park Service to justify each dollar of its budget and every activity it carries out...
...Of course I am serious...
...Even those in the state of Washington...
...A long pause...
...We probably won't really close any of the parks in his state...
...Here is what we will do," the Director continued...
...One man staggered to the drinking fountain, and another had to loosen his tie to avoid choking...
...Of course, I won't be able to keep the list secret, chief...
...Charles Pettypoint, the newly-installed efficiency expert in the White House, was eager to see at firsthand how Zero-Based Budgeting was working...
...He decided to drop in on an agency getting ready to use it, and selected the National Park Service in the Department of the Interior...
...Here's bow it will work...
...Well, the idea is to get the most out of the taxpayer's dollar by making sure that every cent we spend is justified...
...An aide started to rise, but was waved back to his seat by the Director...
...Oh, but we are, Mr...
...He broke up in laughter...
...I suppose the Sierra Club is bound to find out that we are thinking of closing Yellowstone...
...Smith, you tell Senator Henry Jackson, the chairman of the Interior Committee, that we are considering what would happen if we closed all the national parks...
...Smith asked incredulously...
...Pettypoint to explain ZBB to his aides...
...His most recent books are Political Organizations and Thinking about Crime...
...You know, Freedom of Information and all that...
...He collapsed back in his chair, overcome with hilarity...
...Smith, wiping his eyes, shouted: "Hey, Pettypoint, did you know that some of those women in the Garden Club can hit a moving White House staffer at twenty paces with a potted geranium...
...Howls rang through the room...
...Hear, hear," one said...
...Isn't it...
...The President of the United States is serious...
...But stress to the Senator that it is just a mental experiment, a planning exercise...
...Pettypoint is serious...
...But that isn't the purpose," Pettypoint rejoined...
...The Alternative: An American Spectator February 1977 5...
...Pettypoint bristled...
...You are not looking at this constructively...
...This year...
...Pettypoint," the Director replied...
...I suppose ZBB would work best if applied to a program that didn' t have this kind of organized public support...
...I understand," the Director replied, allowing a thin smile to crease his stern features...
...Wait until the Daughters of the American Revolution finds out that we are...
...What we do," Pettypoint continued, "is to assume that the agency--in this case, the Park Service--has no money at all and then...
...Sir, you can't be serious...
...Everybody around the table nodded...
...In fact, within the next three months...
...He arrived to find the entire senior staff of the Park Service seated around a big table...
...The Director stared at him for a long moment...
...Justify everything ?" the Director asked...
...Two older Park officials had turned pale, and the hands of another began to shake uncontrollably...
...THE ALTERNATIVE: AN AMERICAN SPECTATOR VOLUME TEN, NUMBER FIVE / FEBRUARY 1977 James Q. Wilson Zero-Based Budgeting Comes to Washiugtou You remember ZBB--tkat government reform candidate Jimmy Carter promised...
...Suddenly, a beatific expression of sudden enlightenment spread across Smith's face...
...Only after a pin dropped noisily to the floor did everyone realize how quiet the room had become...
...The Audubon Society will suspect that we might be cutting back on bird sanctuaries," someone remarked...
...Especially those in Washington," the Director replied...
...This year...
...We will all be serious...
...Gorstwinkle, I want you to get right to work on making up a list of national parks in the order of their importance, so we will know which ones to leave open if we can't reopen all of them," the Director said...
...the Director asked innocently...
...Gorstwinkle started to giggle uncontrollably...
...I firmly believe that, as a result of this ZBB exercise, the public will realize that we need more money for more parks...
...Men," the Director finally said, "I think we ought to cooperate 100 percent with this splendid idea...
...Everything," Pettypoint replied...
...You will have to show us how much of your product or service you can produce for a given amount of money...
...Name one...
Vol. 10 • February 1977 • No. 5
