每年,民主国家都要为本国编制一份总预算。在民主国家,预算的实际运作形式是:预算本身以法律的形式颁布,称为某年度的预算案或预算法。议会对其进行辩论,包括逐项审议预算拨款以及分配给每个项目的数额,辩论之后才予以批准并正式颁布为法律。每一项拨款实际上都是预算不可分割的组成部分,这些拨款是作为一个整体进行表决的,而非逐项表决。因此,议会可以全盘接受或全盘否决,尽管在辩论阶段议会保留逐项、逐笔审议的权利。 预算法由若干条款组成:其中一条列明国家在预算所涵盖的财政年度内即将支出的资金;另一条列明国家对即将到来的财政年度收入的预估;其他条款则规定某些机构的支出;还有一些条款规定某些机构的收入预估;此外,某些条款赋予财政大臣一系列强制性权力。每一条款都会引用一张表格,该表列出预算各部分的内容,说明每一条款在支出和收入方面包含哪些内容;表格的每一栏列出该部分的各个项目,随后列出表中每个项目的总额。每年都是在此基础上编制预算的,并根据各种事件每年作出少量调整。此外,每个民主国家的预算还会根据各种事件进行一系列次要的变动。

Each year, the democratic states draw up a general budget for their State. The reality of the budget in the democratic State is that the budget itself is issued in the shape of a law known as the Budget Bill or Law for such and such year, which Parliament then approves and enacts it as a law once it has been debated, including the appropriations of the Budget one by one, and the sums assigned to each item. Each appropriation is in fact an integral part of the Budget and these are voted on as a whole, and not individually. Hence, Parliament can either accept or reject it outright, even if it reserves the right to debate it item per item and sum per sum at the debating stage. The law of the Budget is formed of several articles, one of which is drawn up to show the funds that are earmarked for the State’s upcoming expenditure in the financial year for which the Budget has been drawn up. Another article is drawn to show the State’s estimates with regard to the revenues of the coming financial year. Other articles are drawn in order to earmark the expenses of certain institutions, while yet other articles are drawn in order to estimate the revenues of certain institutions. Also, certain articles are drafted in order to give the Chancellor a host of mandatory powers. In each article a reference is made to a table that includes the sections of the Budget, outlining what each article contains in terms of expenditures and revenues, then in each column the items of the section are listed; then the overall sums of each item in the section are listed in the table. It is on this basis that the Budget is drawn up each year, with slight alterations introduced each year, according to the various events. There are also a host of peripheral changes in the budget of each democratic State, and this is also according to the various events.