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Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law [MPECCoL]

Spending Power

Guilherme Augusto Azevedo Palu

Content type:
Encyclopedia entries
Product:
Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law [MPECCoL]
Article last updated:
March 2023

From: Oxford Constitutions (http://oxcon.ouplaw.com). (c) Oxford University Press, 2023. All Rights Reserved.date: 11 December 2024

Subject(s):
Separation of powers — Public finance — Executive power — Legislative power — Checks and balances

General Editors: Rainer Grote, Frauke Lachenmann, Rüdiger Wolfrum
Managing Editor: Martina Mantovani

1 ‘Spending power’ refers to the power to spend public funds in accordance with an approved budget (public finance). As a general rule, public expenditures are undertaken by the administration after being authorized by a legislature. The power to raise and authorize the spending of public money constitutes the power of the purse, which most commonly belongs to legislatures. Thus, spending power is closely related to taxing power (Black’s Law Dictionary 1359). 2 Spending power should not be confused with the concept of ‘appropriation’ (Stith 1350). The...
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