economic growth, and taxpayer resistance to shouldering a larger tax burden; a prime cause for the
need to engage in "cutback management."
FISCAL YEAR (FY): Government's basic accounting period.
FOREIGN SHARE OF DEBT: That share of the national debt held by foreigners.
FORMAL THEORIES OF ORGANIZATION: Theories stressing formal, structural arrangements
within organizations, and "correct" or "scientific" methods to be followed in order to achieve the
highest degree of organizational efficiency; examples include Weber's theory of bureaucracy and
Taylor's scientific management approach.
FORMULA GRANTS: Grants that employ a specific division rule to indicate how much money
any given jurisdiction will receive.
FREE RIDERS: Individuals who let others pay for goods they themselves consume.
FULLY FUNDED PENSION FUND: A pension fund that has the financial resources necessary to
meet future retirement benefits.
"GARBAGE CAN" theory of organizational choice: A theory of organizational decision making
applicable to organizations where goals are unclear, technologies are imperfectly understood,
histories are difficult to interpret, and participants wander in and out; such "organized anarchies"
operate under conditions of pervasive ambiguity, with so much uncertainty in the decision making
process that traditional theories about coping with uncertainty do not apply.
GENERAL FUND: Fund that handles "unrestricted" funds of government.
GENERAL OBLIGATION BOND: A bond that guarantees that all taxpayers will be responsible
for the bond’s principal and interest payments.
GENERATIONAL ACCOUNTING: A method of recording long-term liabilities inorder to
measure their impact on future generations.
GIFT TAXES: Taxes imposed on the transfer of wealth while a taxpayer is living.
GOAL ARTICULATION: A process of defining and clearly expressing goals generally held by
those in an organization or group; usually regarded as a function of organization or group leaders; a
key step in developing support for official goals.
GOAL CONGRUENCE: Agreement on fundamental goals in the context of an organization, refers
to agreement among leaders and followers in the organization on central objectives; in practice, its
absence in many instances creates internal tension and difficulties in goal definition.