The impact of political ideology on government expenditure : Malta, 1960-1991

Abstract

The expenditure of all states is usually governed, to some extent, by the ideology of the particular party or regime in power at the time. In the case of modern democracies, general elections are held at certain intervals, usually regular, sometimes highly irregular, as in post-WW II Italy. The party or parties presenting themselves for election usually have a so-called electoral programme. This programme should reflect the general philosophy of that particular party, whether it is leftist, rightist, centrist, socialist, capitalist, or of any other leaning. The programme necessitates expenditure on certain projects and programmes in order to attempt to fulfil its stated aims. I use the word attempt as in many cases, the desired objectives, whether explicitly stated or not, are not always achieved. The issue becomes more complicated in coalition governments. In this essay I shall only treat the case of a single party government. The aim of this short paper is to examine the main thrust of expenditure by the Maltese Government over the period 1960 to 1991, and compare the results achieved with the stated or implied objectives.