Public budgeting and finance (please answer the question)

Humanities

Rubin chapter 6 is on balancing the budget (attached). I thought an interesting note was made on pages 191 and 192. It is noted that the public, interest groups, and elected officials all have a role in balancing the budget. It is also noted on page 192 that a budget can be balanced by allowing revenues to increase, freezing revenues at current levels and cutting expenditures, or by reducing revenue but cutting expenditures even more.

Question: Who do you believe plays the most important role in balancing the budget and which of the three ways to balance the budget do you believe is used most often?