THE DEVELOPMENT OF GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTING: A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF THE JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTANCY, 1905 TO 1989

This content analysis of Journal of Accountancy items relating to governmental accounting spans a period of nine decades which included two world wars, a severe economic depression, and conflicts in Korea and Vietnam, These decades marked the departure from simpler local government accounting concerns alone to national governmental issues and the call for consistent accountability among the myriad federal agencies and programs. Considering the growth of the public sector, its importance to all other spheres of American life, the complexity of governmental financial administration, and the events of the times, governmental accounting received only a modest amount of attention in the AICPA's journal — probably less than five percent of published content over the period. This limited coverage suggests a minimal amount of attention to governmental accounting matters within the profession which may be due in part to the fact that governmental accounting, until recently, was not a principal component of the pro...