The Impact of Performance Information on Congressional Appropriations

This study examines the relationship between performance information and resource allocations in the context of the George W. Bush administration's performance budgeting metric: the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART). Results of regression analysis suggest that performance information reported through the PART system had a fragmented and incomplete effect on congressional appropriations. This was because (1) PART was a politicized tool applied more rigorously to cuts in programs supported by Democrats; (2) PART scores had little or no impact on earmarked programs; (3) PART's impact declined during a divided government; and (4) PART scores were used more often in budget decisions for small or medium-size programs than for larger programs.