Reforming Budget ritual and Budget practice: The Case of Performance Management Implementation in Virginia

Virginia is accepted as one of the leading examples of performance-based reform among US states. This article reports on some of the key factors that have helped to ensure that these reforms have established performance as a basis for both budget ritual and budget practice. Virginia's strong record of implementation is explained as the result of a consistent legislative basis for reform, effective reform leadership by a core agency, the integration of results-oriented activities into all facets of the financial management process, a focus on high levels of citizen engagement, and an emphasis on ensuring that performance management systems are tailored to be useful.