Politics, Institutions, and Fiscal Policy: Deficits and Surpluses in Federated States, Louis M. Imbeau and Francois Petry (editors), Studies in Public Policy; Toronto: Lexington Books, 2004, pp. 239.

Despite the continual attention by the public, the media and politicians on governmental deficits, surpluses and governmental debt over the past decade, the political science literature in this area is sparse. When political scientists do venture into this area, they are unduly influenced by economic considerations rather than using political-institutional explanations. Happily this volume avoids the usual approaches and instead emphasizes political variables. In particular, the editors and authors highlight the importance of the proximity of elections, the ideology of the incumbent party, and the severity of established anti-deficit policies.