The thesis focuses specifically on how earmarks have been affected or had effect on the many facets of the American system of government; from the media, to the process of earmarking within the budget and its implications, to the review of earmark case studies, to the relationship with earmarks and electoral politics, and the way in which earmarks play an important role in facilitating the legislative process.;For most of the span of federal budgeting history the United States, the trend of running deficits during wartime and balancing the budget during times of peace remained consistent. In fact, up until some point in the 1970s being in debt and running a deficit was looked upon with disgust by our political class. In fact our own society believed that being in debt was immoral. It was only as recently as the late 19th century that so called "debtors prisons" were finally closed in the United States. These changing values are a part of the backdrop for Congressional actions and federal budgeting and earmarks play a small but vital role in both the federal budget and in facilitating the democratic process.;This study has a primarily qualitative emphasis but also incorporates some statistical analysis and quantitative data when appropriate. In addition to the use of data and theories presented in the literature that forms the backbone of this thesis, I have conducted numerous interviews with bipartisan Congressional office staff, Congressional committee staff, lobbyists, earmark requestors and other related stakeholders in order to provide current anecdotal evidence for how reforms have changed the budgeting process and commentary on the impact reform has had.;In the context of American government, earmarks represent an imperfect piece of legislative activity that can be prone to corruption and abuse, and yet provides one of the most critical tools available for Congressional leadership to use when attempting to pass national legislation to address the many problems facing the United States. The political cliche that people love sausage but don't like to see how it gets made rings true for Congressional earmarking, because earmarking provides a currency upon which coalitions in favor of national policies can be built and yet has all of the appearances of fiscal profligacy and corruption to the uninformed. Without earmarks (as Congress is currently operating) the legislature is incapable of passing almost any kind of policy at all.
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