The Functions of the State in the Shadow of Budget Categorization: A Categorization Trial

This article claims that it is possible to examine the categorization of state budget in an alternative way considering the theses of “the fiscal crisis of the state” theory which offers a critical point of view about the role of the state in a capitalist economy. One of the basic premises of the theory is that the state has two main contradictory functions which are accumulation and legitimization. Despite its contradictory functions, the state has an independent image and it has to maintain this image in order to fulfill its functions. In a capitalist economy in which there is no possibility of being independent, the instrument of the state which makes it possible to seem independent is its budget. The state budget helps to conceal the power relationships within the “private economy” which is defined as monopoly and competitive sector as it is not categorized in class terms. However, the political-economic reasons lying behind the forming of each item can be found out by a detailed examination of the consolidated budget items, and the determination of these reasons lights out the understanding of the contradictive nature of the power relations between the state and the other parts of the society. The article, based on the criticism of the theory against the budget categorization, decomposes the central government budget expenditures in Turkey according to the functions of the state by applying an alternative categorization. The purpose, importance and limitations of this categorization are the main subjects of this article.