Participatory budgeting: a significant contribution to participatory democracy

Abstract

This paper describes participatory budgeting in Brazil and elsewhere as a significant area of innovation in democracy and local development. It draws on the experience of 25 municipalities in Latin America and Europe, selected based on the diversity of their participatory budgeting experience and their degree of innovation. The paper provides a systematic analysis of the range of experience that can be included in participatory budgeting – in terms of the level of funds being considered, the extent of control and mode of involvement of local citizens, the relationship with local government, the degree of institutionalization and the sustainability of the process – and it considers the questions that are raised by this diverse set of possibilities.