Participatory budgeting is a budgeting
methodology that seeks to directly involve the public in the decision-making
process regarding the allocation of government spending. The movement is being led by the Participatory
Budgeting Project (PBP), whose mission statement defines participatory
budgeting as “a democratic process in which local people directly decide how to
spend part of a public budget”. This
involves getting the public to decide on such things as “the design of the
budgeting process”, “what proposals go on the ballot”, and finally, “what gets
funded”. The organization does this to facilitate
the engagement of citizens in direct democracy, and to foster a greater
interest in the inner-workings of municipal government.
The PBP outlines the participatory budget
process as follows: “residents brainstorming ideas, volunteer budget delegates
proposals based on these ideas, residents vote on proposals, and the government
implements the top projects”. The group
seeks out groups that are not well represented in the political process such as
minorities, low-income, and young people, in an effort to bring some different
ideas and viewpoints into the traditionally homogeneous world of municipal
government proceedings and decision-making.
My initial thoughts on this idea, which
will most likely be refined in my upcoming paper on the issue, is that this
idea seems to have promise. Unlike other
engagement methods which rally for more general goals such as simply getting
out and voting, participatory budgeting offers citizens a more tangible
benefit, directly influencing the spending of the area in which they live,
regardless of the success of the candidate that they may have voted for. Their goal of engaging a wide-variety of
people is also admirable, as it is often the same types of people that are able
to devote the time and effort to creating budget delegations and attending
budget meetings in order to have their voices heard.
As I continue with my research on this topic,
I will be interested to discover how the process has been viewed on the other
side of the fence; that is, how local governments have responded to the idea of
direct democracy in the form of participatory budgets, and whether it has been
a source of conflict, or conciliation between government and traditionally
marginalized people. Like most engagement
initiatives, it sounds warm and fuzzy, but does it actually work in practice?
All
quotations taken from the Participatory Budget Project website, found here: http://www.participatorybudgeting.org/
