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A Federal Deficit Reduction Simulation: Learning Politics and Policy in a Budgetary Context
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A Fed eral Defi cit R eduction Simul ati on:
Learnin g Pol itics and Poli c y in a Budget ar y Cont ext
Bruce A. Walli n
Northeast ern Universit y
I mu st fi rst co nfes s t hat I was for a l ong t ime a skepti c about t he us e of simul atio ns i n th e cl ass ro om. I had, aft er all , gott en along qui te fine witho ut t hem. M y co urs es were full, m y t eaching evaluations good. Then on e year whil e I was t eaching a graduate Publi c Admini stration cl ass I came acros s a cit y fis cal sim ul ation and tri ed it. It worked rather well, and m y curi osit y was piqu ed. I s pent som e tim e res earchi ng t he desi gn and effect iv en ess o f thes e ex ercis es (s ee, for exampl e, Wass ermann 1994), and th en d esi gned m y o wn federal defi cit reducti on simul ati on. I have now been regul arl y u sin g an d revisi ng i t for over t en years. St udents rout in el y rat e it as th e b est l earni ng experience in the course, and I con cu r. I use a v er y d et ail ed versio n of the sim ul ation i n m y upper-di vision cl as s on The Pol iti cs o f Bud getin g and Taxati on and in a graduat e s eminar on Publi c Bu d getin g, an d an abbrevi at ed version in m y introduct or y Ameri can Go vernm ent class. The simul at ion woul d als o fit ver y well i n a cou rs e on C on gress . In -cl as s si mul atio ns hav e b een found t o be effective i n Am erican gov ernm ent co urses (En ders b y and Webber 1995), and have been used success full y i n a b ud get ar y context. (Kanner 2004;Grumm el 2003). A simul atio n in vol vin g an attempt t o reduce the federal budget defi cit is a lo gi cal ex tensi on. The firs t argum ent for usin g a federal deficit reduction si mul ation com es from t he imp ort an ce of t he subj ect m att er its elf. Ever since the 1980s the issu e o f t h e federal b ud get defi cit (and briefl y, s urplus es ) has dominat ed US d omesti c p oli cy. While t he compositi on of t he federal budget is important i n its el f, o ne can not read an yt hing about an y m ajor federal poli c y ch an ge witho ut h eari n g about its i mpact on t he deficit. J oseph White an d Aaron Wil dav sk y wrot e i n 1990 that “Pol iti cal tim e is count ed not i n years b ut i n is sues; a politi cal era i s defi ned b y t he concerns that domin at e d ebat e and action , s o that about other issues we as k: How does that affect __ ___? ”
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The y co ncl uded that we were then living i n the era o f
the budget. It rem ain s true toda y, wi th an emphas is on defi cits . The bu d get i s t he p ri mar y an nual docum ent (and s truggl e) of federal gov ernm ent, and th e defi cit t hat oft en res ults dri ves politi cs and poli c y i n
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A Fed eral Defi cit R eduction Simul ati on:
Learnin g Pol itics and Poli c y in a Budget ar y Cont ext
Bruce A. Walli n
Northeast ern Universit y
I mu st fi rst co nfes s t hat I was for a l ong t ime a skepti c about t he us e of
simul atio ns i n th e cl ass ro om. I had, aft er all , gott en along qui te fine
witho ut t hem. M y co urs es were full, m y t eaching evaluations good.
Then on e year whil e I was t eaching a graduate Publi c Admini stration cl ass
I came acros s a cit y fis cal sim ul ation and tri ed it. It worked rather well,
and m y curi osit y was piqu ed. I s pent som e tim e res earchi ng t he desi gn
and effect iv en ess o f thes e ex ercis es (s ee, for exampl e, Wass ermann 1994),
and th en d esi gned m y o wn federal defi cit reducti on simul ati on. I have
now been regul arl y u sin g an d revisi ng i t for over t en years. St udents
rout in el y rat e it as th e b est l earni ng experience in the course, and I
con cu r.
I use a v er y d et ail ed versio n of the sim ul ation i n m y upper-di vision cl as s
on The Pol iti cs o f Bud getin g and Taxati on and in a graduat e s eminar on
Publi c Bu d getin g, an d an abbrevi at ed version in m y introduct or y
Ameri can Go vernm ent class. The simul at ion woul d als o fit ver y well i n a
cou rs e on C on gress .
In -cl as s si mul atio ns hav e b een found t o be effective i n Am erican
gov ernm ent co urses (En ders b y and Webber 1995), and have been used
success full y i n a b ud get ar y context. (Kanner 2004;Grumm el 2003). A
simul atio n in vol vin g an attempt t o reduce the federal budget defi cit is a
lo gi cal ex tensi on.
The firs t argum ent for usin g a federal deficit reduction si mul ation com es
from t he imp ort an ce of t he subj ect m att er its elf. Ever since the 1980s the
issu e o f t h e federal b ud get defi cit (and briefl y, s urplus es ) has dominat ed
US d omesti c p oli cy. While t he compositi on of t he federal budget is
important i n its el f, o ne can not read an yt hing about an y m ajor federal
poli c y ch an ge witho ut h eari n g about its i mpact on t he deficit. J oseph
White an d Aaron Wil dav sk y wrot e i n 1990 that “Pol iti cal tim e is count ed
not i n years b ut i n is sues; a politi cal era i s defi ned b y t he concerns that
domin at e d ebat e and action , s o that about other issues we as k: How does
that affect __ ___? ”
1
The y co ncl uded that we were then living i n the era o f
the budget. It rem ain s true toda y, wi th an emphas is on defi cits .
The bu d get i s t he p ri mar y an nual docum ent (and s truggl e) of federal
gov ernm ent, and th e defi cit t hat oft en res ults dri ves politi cs and poli c y i n
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