The way public funds are allocated dictates the efficiency and benefits of their use. When budgetary allocations are politicised and preferentially distributed, there is a great degree of wastefulness in governmental spending. This book uses the case study of Romania to look into public funds management and the causes and consequences of discretionary spending. It explores such issues as public procurement, public investments and discretionary governmental funds. It draws a vivid picture of the informal mechanisms that influenced public spending in Romania over the last decade. Based on official data and extensive field research it is a useful instrument to disentangle the organisational challenges of governing political parties in a post communist country. This research was conducted with the help of the Centre for Social Governance (www.cpgs.ro) from Romania.