Struś, Piotr2013-03-072013-03-072008Ruch Prawniczy, Ekonomiczny i Socjologiczny 70, 2008, z. 4, s. 169-1890035-9629http://hdl.handle.net/10593/4989Many countries of the world - both developed and developing - have systematically run budget deficits, especially since 1970s. Fiscal positions, even within economically homogeneous groups of countries, have also varied. Economic arguments alone are not sufficient to explain the cross- -countries differences of budget deficits that are being observed. Therefore, recent political economy literature emphasises the role of political and institutional factors in the explanation of the fiscal policy and, in particular, of the budget balances behaviour. This paper surveys a set of political - institutional models of budget deficits. It starts with a review of the “tax smoothing” theory. This theory serves as a normative benchmark from which the political-institutional models depart.plArtykuł