Public expenditure is defined as expenditure made by the state within the framework of certain rules in order to meet social needs and to intervene in social and economic life. The classic view of economics, based on a free market economy in which the presence of the state in the economy is limited, was the dominant economic view until the Great Depression. After the Great Depression, Keynes stated that a free market economy cannot always provide full employment, that full employment is a rare and short-term situation, and that the state should intervene in the economy, and with this view, the idea that the state should take a more active role in the market was accepted. The primary reason for the increase in public expenditure in this period was the increase in the duties of the state and public activities, that is, the diversity of expenditure.

The volume and content of public expenditure are influenced by economic, cultural and political factors. When we look at the increase in public expenditure from a political perspective, it can be seen that political parties, pressure groups, voters and bureaucrats involved in the political decision-making mechanism are influential.

Bureaucracy is the system that assists the political authority in the production of public goods and services and ensures that daily state services are provided. A bureaucrat is defined as a member of the organization referred to in the concept of bureaucracy. Bureaucrats especially want to increase the size of their offices in order to increase their power, prestige and monetary authority. With the expansion of the office, the number of personnel increases and the hierarchical structure changes accordingly. In addition, citizens who benefit from the services of the bureau want to access the public goods and services from which they benefit without any problems. In this regard, citizens who want the bureaus to work smoothly and without delay can create pressure. As a result of this pressure, the service production capacity of the bureau expands considerably. Another reason for the increase in public expenditure through bureaus is that bureaus are the sole producers of public goods and services. Due to this monopoly structure, bureaucrats try to increase the production of public goods and services to increase their monetary benefits. In order to reach this resource, they exaggerate the benefits obtained and ask for more appropriations than they need or make estimates based on higher figures than necessary. With the loss of control over the data provided to the government and the public on the costs of services and works, governments are often forced to give in to the demands of the bureaucracy.

Today, the bureaucracy plays a decisive role in the process of public policy making. Public choice theory is based on individual utility maximization, which also refers to the pursuit of utility by public decision-makers. It is stated that the basic units are not organic units such as parties, states or nations, but individuals who can make choices and have a set of attitudes and behavioral models, and hence it is assumed that the decisions taken in the public sector are based on individual preferences as in the private economy.

In an environment where bureaucrats are not rent-seeking, an exogenous increase in public expenditure that increases productivity will directly increase the productive capacity of the economy and directly contribute to economic growth. Government investment expenditure on public goods and services that have the highest potential to increase productivity will increase productivity and thus economic growth. Moreover, the impact of improvements in bureaucratic quality on economic growth depends on the relative magnitude of changes in public expenditure. If the change in bureaucratic quality is accompanied by a decrease in productivity-enhancing investment expenditure, this may have a negative impact on economic growth. The important point here is that improvement in bureaucratic quality reduces incentives for rentseeking. Strong institutions with good monitoring and accountability mechanisms can be effective in controlling rent-seeking activities. In this case, an improvement in bureaucratic quality is likely to produce positive economic growth outcomes.

In an economic system where there is no rent-seeking and where bureaucratic quality is high, the desired growth results will be achieved by directing public expenditure to investment expenditure that will increase productivity. In the presence of rent-seeking, the importance of bureaucratic quality emerges. High bureaucratic quality controlling the rent-seeking of bureaucrats in order to maximize their own interests will lead to the transfer of public expenditure to more productive channels. In the presence of a general policy and regulatory environment that will increase the efficiency of productive investment expenditure together with bureaucratic quality, the increase in public expenditure will have a direct and positive effect on economic growth.