Public budgets describe what governments do by listing how governments spend money.
In Rubin's article public budgeting is similar to other forms of budgeting in that there is a distinct procedure of making budgetary decisions, determining how to balance the budget via possible borrowing, and using some kind of decision-making process. Rubin also discusses five main characteristics used to expound on how public budgeting differs from the any other form of budgeting. The first difference involves budgetary actors. There are various actors who have their own agendas and priorities. Each of these actors also happen to have varying levels of power and influence.