Parliamentary Control Of The Budget In The Federal Republic Of Germany

The control of the nation’s finances-the ‘power of the purse’-is one of the key constitutional arrangements of the modern State, since the execution of political plans, indeed of any governmental activity at all, is dependent on the availability of the necessary resources. Thus the right to decide on the goals involved in the application of public monies lies at the centre of the State decisionmaking process. However, the power of any government agency to define its aims and priorities can be fully exercised only if the agency concerned is also given the right to allocate the appropriate funds. In other words full political authority can be exercised only if policy-making and financial powers are combined.