Participatory budgeting (PB) is a type of citizen sourcing in which ordinary people decide how to allocate part of a

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

or public budget through a process of democratic deliberation and decision-making. Participatory budgeting allows citizens or residents of a locality to identify, discuss, and prioritize public spending projects, and gives them the power to make real decisions about how money is spent. Participatory budgeting processes are typically designed to involve those left out of traditional methods of public engagement, such as low-income residents, non-citizens, and youth. A comprehensive case study of eight municipalities in Brazil analyzing the successes and failures of participatory budgeting has suggested that it often results in more equitable public spending, greater government transparency and accountability, increased levels of public participation (especially by marginalized or poorer residents), and democratic and citizenship learning. Participatory budgeting stands as one of several democratic innovations—such as British Columbia's Citizens' Assembly—encompassing the ideals of a

participatory democracy Participatory democracy, participant democracy or participative democracy is a form of government in which citizens participate individually and directly in political decisions and policies that affect their lives, rather than through elected repr ...

. Frameworks of participatory budgeting differ throughout the globe in terms of scale, procedure, and objective. Participatory budgeting, in its conception, is often contextualized to suit a region's particular conditions and needs. Thus, the magnitudes of participatory budgeting vary depending on whether it is carried out at a municipal, regional, or provincial level. In many cases, participatory budgeting has been legally enforced and regulated; however, some are internally arranged and promoted. Since the original invention in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 1988, participatory budgeting has manifested itself in a myriad of designs, with variations in methodology, form, and technology. Today, participatory budgeting has been implemented in nearly 1,500 municipalities and institutions around the world.

History

Participatory Budgeting was first developed in the 1980s by the Brazilian Workers' Party (PT), drawing on the party's stated belief that electoral success is not an end in itself but a springboard for developing radical, participatory forms of democracy. While there were several early experiments (including the public budgeting practices of the

Brazilian Democratic Movement The Brazilian Democratic Movement ( pt, Movimento Democrático Brasileiro, MDB) is a Brazilian political party. It is considered a "big tent party" and it is one of the parties with the greatest representation throughout the national territory, ...

in municipalities such as

Pelotas Pelotas () is a Brazilian city and municipality (''município''), the third most populous in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is located 270 km (168 mi) from Porto Alegre, the state's capital city, and 130 km (80.8&n ...

), the first full participatory budgeting process was implemented in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 1989. Porto Alegre is the capital city of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, and a busy industrial, financial, and service center; at that time of implementation, it had a population of 1.2 million. The initial success of participatory budgeting in Porto Alegre soon made it attractive to other municipalities. By 2001, more than 100 cities in Brazil had implemented participatory budgeting, while in 2015, thousands of variations have been implemented in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe.

Porto Alegre

In its first Title, the 1988 Constitution of Brazil states: "All power originates from the people, who exercise it by the means of elected representatives or directly, according to the terms of this Constitution." The authoring of the Constitution was a reaction to the previous twenty years of military dictatorship, and the new Constitution sought to secure individual liberty while also decentralizing and democratizing ruling power, in the hope that authoritarian dictatorship would not reemerge. Brazil's contemporary

political economy Political economy is the study of how economic systems (e.g. markets and national economies) and political systems (e.g. law, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied phenomena within the discipline are systems such as labour ...

is an outgrowth of the Portuguese empire's patrimonial capitalism, where "power was not exercised according to rules, but was structured through personal relationships". Unlike the Athenian ideal of democracy, in which all citizens participate directly and decide policy collectively, Brazil's government is structured as a republic with elected representatives. This creates a separation between the state and

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.clientelism. Because the law-making process occurs behind closed doors, elected officials and bureaucrats can access state resources in ways that benefit certain 'clients', typically those of extraordinary social or economic relevance. The influential clients receive policy favors and repay elected officials with votes from the groups they influence. For example, a neighborhood leader who represents the views of shop owners may ask a local party official for laws to increase foot traffic on commercial streets. At the same time, the neighborhood leader mobilizes shop owners to vote for the political party responsible for the policy. Because this patronage operates on the basis of individual ties between patron and clients, true decision-making power is limited to a small network of party officials and influential citizens rather than the broader public. In 1989, Olívio Dutra won the mayor's seat in Porto Alegre. In an attempt to encourage popular participation in government and redirect government resources towards the poor, Dutra institutionalized the PT's organizational structure on a citywide level. The result is what we now know as participatory budgeting.

Procedure

Broadly, all participatory budgeting schemes allow citizens to

deliberate Deliberation is a process of thoughtfully weighing options, usually prior to voting. Deliberation emphasizes the use of logic and reason as opposed to power-struggle, creativity, or dialogue. Group decisions are generally made after deliberation ...

with the goal of creating either a concrete financial plan (a budget), or a recommendation to elected representatives. In the Porto Alegre model, the structure of the scheme gives sub-jurisdictions (neighborhoods) authority over the larger political jurisdiction (the city) of which they are part. Neighborhood budget committees, for example, have authority to determine the citywide budget, not just the allocation of resources for their particular neighborhood. Therefore, mediating institutions are also needed to combine budget preferences expressed by sub-jurisdictions. According to the

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Gr ...

, certain factors are needed for participatory budgeting to be adopted: " ��strong mayoral support, a civil society willing and able to contribute to ongoing policy debates, a generally supportive political environment that insulates participatory budgeting from legislators' attacks, and financial resources to fund the projects selected by citizens." In addition, there are generally two approaches through which participatory budgeting formulates: ''top-down'' and ''bottom-up''. In the top-down approach, the adoption of participatory budgeting is required by the federal government (for example, as in Peru). In the bottom-up approach, local governments initiate participatory budgeting independent from the national agenda (such as in Porto Alegre); with this approach, NGO's and local organizations play crucial roles in mobilizing and informing the community members. Participatory budgeting processes do not adhere to strict rules, but they generally share several basic steps: # The municipality is divided geographically into multiple districts. # Representatives of the divided districts are either elected or volunteered to work with government officials in a participatory budgeting committee. # The committees are established with regularly scheduled meetings under a specific timeline to deliberate. # Proposals, initiated by the citizens, are dealt under different branches of public budget such as recreation, infrastructure, transportation, etc. # Participants publicly deliberate with the committee to finalize the projects to be voted on. # The drafted budget is shared to the public and put for a vote. # The municipal government implements the top proposals. # The cycle is repeated on an annual basis.

Digital participatory budgeting (e-participatory budgeting)

Technology has often used been to support participatory budgeting, which is commonly referred to as e-participatory budgeting. The use of digital technologies in the process was pioneered by the municipality of

Ipatinga Ipatinga is a municipality in eastern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The city was founded on 29 April 1964 and covers a total area of . Its population is 267,333 as of 2021. It is part of the Vale do Aço (Steel Valley) metropolitan area (populati ...

in Brazil, which offered the citizens the possibility to vote for projects via the Internet in 2001. The online voting option was later integrated to the participatory budgeting of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul in 2003, and in the municipality of Belo Horizonte in 2006. Since then, the number of participatory budgeting initiatives that included online voting has multiplied around the world, and includes cities like Paris, New York City, Lisbon, Madrid, and Mexico City. Although the effects of online voting in participatory budgeting have not been widely researched, a study in 2006 examining the case of participatory budgeting of Belo Horizonte suggests that online voting played a role in increasing the number of participants in the process. A 2015 study of Rio Grande do Sul showed an 8.2% increase in total turnout with the introduction of online voting, with the online channel more likely to attract participants who were younger, male, wealthier, and more educated. Despite these differences in participant demographics, a 2017 study found that the introduction of online voting in Rio Grande do Sul did not lead to a systematic difference in vote choices between online and offline voters. Telephones—both mobile and fixed landlines—have also been used to stimulate uptake of participatory budgeting processes. The municipality of Ipatinga was the first to employ telephony in 2005, by creating a toll-free number for citizens to indicate their preferences for budget allotments, and by sending automated voice and text messages incentivizing citizens to attend the participatory budgeting meetings. Although some initiatives have used text messages to enable mobile voting—such as in La Plata, Argentina and Cascais, Portugal—most usage has been to encourage voting participation, either in-person or via the Internet. A participatory budgeting algorithm is sometimes used in order to calculate the budget allocation from the votes. This algorithm takes as input a list of projects, the available budget, and the voters' preferences, and returns an allocation of the budget among the projects satisfying some pre-defined requirements.

Outcomes

Government transparency

Participatory budgeting allows for effective and efficient policy changes, and positively influences aspects such as government transparency. Foremost, participatory budgeting increases budget transparency. In contrast, a lack of transparency can disconnect citizens from their government. For example, in the Dominican Republic, citizens reported that they did not feel they had a voice in their local government and claimed that they were not aware of how to participate in legislation within their districts. Due to this attitude, “citizen's perceptions of such things as why raising tax revenue is important, how public budgets are carried out, or how public works are paid for are often ill-informed.”

Advancement in democracy

The Colombian organization Fundacion Solidaridad, which seeks to promote democratic developments through participatory budgeting practices, implemented seminars and practices to “facilitate the exchange of experiences in participatory budgeting at the municipal level through dialogues and planning meetings.” Fundacion Solidaridad’s approaches showed that participatory budgeting led to concrete advancements in democracy. The results concluded that participatory budgeting served as a platform for democratic societies to be able to partner with public institutions and international partners to be able to “promote activities for democracy and transparency at the local level.” Increased government transparency allows civic societies to have more impact within their own communities, as well as understand the importance of civic engagement. After more than a decade, the high number of participants suggests that participatory budgeting encourages increasing citizen involvement, according to the paper. Also, Porto Alegre's health and education budget increased from 13% (1985) to almost 40% (1996), and the share of the participatory budget in the total budget increased from 17% (1992) to 21% (1999). Research also shows that participatory budgeting has a greater impact over longer periods of time. In a paper that updated the World Bank's methodology, which expanded statistical scope and analyzed Brazil's 253 largest municipalities that use participatory budgeting, researchers found that participatory budgeting reallocates spending towards health and sanitation. The longer that a municipality used participatory budgeting, the more health and sanitation benefits accumulated. Participatory budgeting does not merely allow citizens to shift funding priorities in the short-term—it can yield sustained institutional and political change in the long term.

Improvement in citizens' well-being

Participatory budgeting has been shown to increase citizen's overall well-being. For example, studies show that the increase in participatory budgeting in Brazil correlated to improvements in the country's infant mortality. This research found that infant mortality rates are substantially lower in governments that use participatory budgeting compared to those that do not. This is due to the fact that infant mortality disproportionately affects poorer income groups more than middle-upper groups, with participatory budgeting leading to an increase in pro-poor investments, such as health and sewage infrastructure. These results suggest that countries who “sustain participatory budgeting programs may be part of general improvements in governance that produce more durable access to healthcare.” Participatory budgeting has led to advancements in government because democratic governments with this kind of budgeting are able to make better use of public funding. A World Bank paper by Bhatnagar, et al. concludes that participatory budgeting can lead to improved conditions for the poor. Although it cannot overcome wider problems such as

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refere ...

, it leads to "noticeable improvement in the accessibility and quality of various

public welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

amenities". The paper suggests that participatory budgeting has led to direct improvements in facilities in Porto Alegre. For example, sewer and water connections increased from 75% of households in 1988 to 98% in 1997. Additionally, the number of schools quadrupled since 1986. More recently, a cross-national study found that greater participation in the preparation and execution of the budget corresponded to greater allocation of public funds in education.

Citizens' attitudes

Participatory budgeting significantly changes citizens' attitudes towards democracy. Research has shown that when citizens participate in participatory budgeting, they are more inclined to (1) support democracy, (2) perceive democracy as an effective institution, and (3) understand how governmental budgeting works. Through participatory budgeting, citizens are able to acquire skills that allow them to be active citizens. Participatory budgeting has shown that it “may help marginalized people and other previously excluded groups to build their self-esteem and self-fulfillment through their participation in local budget decisions". Civic participation has also shown to “foster the attitudes and skills of citizenship”, and shape identities and loyalties.

Increase in tax revenues

Participatory budgeting has been associated with increased tax revenues. For instance, a study examining the case of Porto Alegre suggests that participatory budgeting contributed to an increase of 269% in own-source revenues from 1988 to 2004. Another comparative study of 25 municipalities in Latin America and Europe found a significant reduction in tax delinquency after the adoption of participatory budgeting. More recently, a World Bank study examining 253 cases of participatory budgeting in Brazil found that municipalities with the process collect 39% more local taxes than similar municipalities without it.

Adoption

Based on Porto Alegre's system, more than 140 of the 5,571 municipalities in Brazil (about 2.5%) have adopted participatory budgeting. Participatory budgeting gives alternative ways for citizens be a part of the democratic process. This has encouraged a worldwide spread. Participatory budgeting is impactful in countries that struggle to provide public services and in rural communities marked by high levels of poverty. Another key adaptation of participatory budgeting is that it is "far less likely to use specific rules that promote

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...

and mandates the distribution of greater resources to underserved communities", which allows for greater opportunity to serve poor communities.

Criticism

Lack of representation

Reviewing the experience in Brazil and Porto Alegre, a

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

paper points out that lack of representation of extremely poor people in participatory budgeting can be a shortcoming. Participation of the very poor and of the young is highlighted as a challenge. Nevertheless, studies show that although participants may not fully mirror the demographics of the population as a whole, participatory budgeting fares better than the status quo of traditional representative democracy institutions. For instance, political scientist Graham Smith notes that participatory budgeting in Porto Alegre has been substantially more effective in mobilizing women and citizens from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. In a similar vein, a report on New York City's process shows that participatory budgeting was more successful in mobilizing people of color and low-income groups than local elections.

Clientelism

Participatory budgeting may also struggle to overcome existing clientelism.

Misallocation resources

Participatory budgeting can harm other government projects, which may not be pursued due to finite resources being allocated elsewhere. In Chicago, participatory budgeting has been criticized for increasing funding to recreational projects while allocating less to infrastructure projects. Additionally, participatory budgeting has many barriers to entry for governments; thus, officials fear electoral costs. Institutions also might lack resources and political will to engage. Some institutions also lack the bureaucratic structure to be able to design and execute this kind of approach.

Examples

Latin America

In 2012, around 40% of participatory budgeting programs were located in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

, where the concept and mechanics of the system were developed in the 1980s. The goal was to "democratize democracy" by engaging the general public, fighting clientelism, and mobilizing the underprivileged who had been left out and left behind by the Brazilian political system. The participatory pyramid consists of three levels: local assemblies that are open to all residents, district participation forums, and a general participatory council at the city level. The meetings' objectives include debating priorities and choosing representatives to oversee the implementation of recommendations. Anyone who desires to participate in open meetings is permitted to do so.

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the twelfth most populous city in the country and the center of Brazil's fif ...

, Brazil, is an interesting case of Latin American participatory budgeting: following some earlier attempts in smaller towns, participatory budgeting came into its own in Porto Alegre as a result of a "window of opportunity" that emerged following an electoral victory by the Workers' Party in 1988.

North America and Europe

Adaptations of the participatory democracy model are found mainly in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Also widespread on the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...

are participatory budgets that incorporate elements of the ''multi-stakeholder participation model''. The most widespread participatory budgets in Europe, however, are those that closely resemble the ''proximity participation model''. Most notably, this model has been embraced in the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Portugal, Latvia, and Estonia. Participatory budgeting has also taken root in North America, particularly Canada and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Africa

The development of participatory budgeting is relatively recent in Africa. Development took on impetus when the Federation of African Cities and Regional Governments (UCLGAA) took an active role promoting training and visibility regarding participatory budgeting at its triennial International Meeting, Africities, held in Dakar in 2012. The path followed in Africa is the same as the one followed by Latin American radical movements. It differs from European cases, where local governments played a major role. During the 2000s, alternative globalization networks exerted a strong impact. However, in a continent heavily burdened by social and economic problems, the innovation that participatory budgeting represents could be an important resource of hope.

Asia

Participatory budgets in Asia began to appear in larger numbers around 2005. Here, participatory budgeting programs were rarely built on pre-existing forms of citizen participation. The fast development of participatory budgets around the world led to the creation of continental networks supporting the dissemination of participatory budgeting. The experience of Porto Alegre, Brazil, has played a particularly important role as a point of reference. For example, local authorities and NGOs from South Korea and China have often visited Porto Alegre, especially since 2009; and in India, the Kerala participatory strategic planning experiment encountered Porto Alegre during the Mumbai

World Social Forum The World Social Forum (WSF, pt, Fórum Social Mundial ) is an annual meeting of civil society organizations, first held in Brazil, which offers a self-conscious effort to develop an alternative future through the championing of counter-hegemoni ...

. In 2012, there were 58–109 active experiments in participatory budgeting in Asia.

References

Bibliography

* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .

External links

* . * – a non-profit organization that supports participatory budgeting in North America and hosts an international resource site.
PBnetwork UK
- information on participatory budgeting in the UK
PB Scotland
Support to implement participatory budgeting in Scotland
Participatory budgeting publications and resources from What Works ScotlandDigital tools and participatory budgeting in Scotland from The Democratic SocietyBudget Participatif Paris
- participatory budgeting website for the City of Paris
Case study on the Electronic Participatory Budgeting of the city of Belo Horizonte (Brazil)
* ttp://www.citymayors.com/finance/participatory_budget.html www.citymayors.com- participatory budgeting in Brazil
Electronic Participatory Budgeting in Iceland
- Case study
PB in Rosario, Argentina
Official Site of participatory budgeting in Rosario, Argentina (Spanish).
www.chs.ubc.ca/participatory
- links to participatory budgeting articles and resources

- links to participatory budgeting articles and resources
Participatory Budgeting Facebook Group
- large participatory budgeting online community
www.nuovomunicipio.org
- Rete del Nuovo Municipio, the Italian project linking Local Authorities, scientists and local committees for promoting Participatory Democracy and Active Citizenship mainly by way of participatory budgeting
"Experimentos democráticos. Asambleas barriales y Presupuesto Participativo en Rosario, 2002-2005"
- Doctoral Dissertation o
Alberto Ford
on Participatory Budgeting in Rosario, Argentina (Spanish). * .
An interview with Josh Lerner, Executive Director of the Participatory Budgeting Project

Participatory budgeting site of Cambridge, Massachusetts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Participatory budgeting