Participatory Transparency in Kenya: Toward an Engaged Budgeting Model of Local Governance

• Published date: 01 May 2021
• Author: Frankline Muthomi,Kurt Thurmaier
• Date: 01 May 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13294

Research Article

Toward an Engaged Budgeting Model of Local Governance 519

Abstract: Research about citizen participation in public budgeting is inconclusive regarding whether citizens actually

influence budgetary priorities. In Kenya, emerging citizens’ participation models spawned by a constitutional mandate

are excellent laboratories for evaluating the impact of citizens on county planning and budgeting decisions. Focus

groups of citizens who have participated in planning and budgeting sessions in four Kenyan counties revealed their

experiences, their perceived impact in public participation, and suggestions about how their county’s participation

could be improved. Analysis indicates counties vary in their performance and commitment to an engaged budgeting

model whereby participating citizens are able to influence county priorities in the capital budget. Findings support

the necessity of participatory transparency for citizens’ influence; repeating participants in county budget forums

are learning technical and legal aspects of county budgeting, and are beginning to influence the engaged budgeting

processes. We argue that participatory transparency is a necessary condition for citizens to be able to affect priorities.

Evidence for Practice

• Citizens’ satisfaction and trust with their government is enhanced through participatory transparency and

engaged budgeting.

• Meaningful participation results from a combination of information transparency and inexpensive (in

time and money) access to participation; the conditions that hinder their attendance and contributions to

decision-making must be minimized.

• Repeating participants in engaged budgeting forums are learning the technical and legal aspects of county

budgeting, and are beginning to influence the engaged budgeting processes.

• Transformational leadership that creates a culture of elected and appointed officials embracing citizen

engagement is essential to citizen satisfaction with the process.

• Extensive use of social media by citizens, especially texting through social networks, can increase citizen

participation in public budgeting.

• In Kenya (and probably other developing countries), citizens use their visual and cognitive abilities to

comprehend whether a project is implemented based on the required standards. Citizens’ judgments during

decision-making is a combination of what they know (information) and what they can see (quality of goods

and services).

A

widely espoused and long-held tenet of

citizen participation models is that citizens’

satisfaction with their government is enhanced

through meaningful engagement with the issues and

decision-makers. Yet, multiple studies have suggested

that citizen participation in budgetary decision-

making is typically minimalist and yields few, if any,

directly observable results (Ebdon and Franklin2006).

Most recently, for example, Calabrese, Williams, and

Gupta(2020) find no evidence of impact in New

York City. Ebdon and Franklin(2006) argue the need

for “more rigorous theorizing using empirical evidence

to model causal relationships” for participatory

budgeting. Much of the literature agrees there are

several sets of variables that affect the type, quality,

and impact of citizen engagements. To that end,

we argue that meaningful engagement requires the

necessary tools, and that participatory transparency

is a necessary tool to empower citizens to influence

budgetary decisions.

In Kenya, the emerging citizens’ participation models

spawned by a constitutional mandate1 are excellent

laboratories for evaluating the impact of citizens

on county planning and budgeting decisions. All

counties are required to implement provisions of

the County Government Act of 2012 formalizing

citizens’ involvement.2 The law permits a wide range

of participation models used by counties to meet the

mandate. Muthomi and Thurmaier(2018) found that

Frankline Muthomi

Kurt Thurmaier

Department of Public Administration, School of Public

and Global Affairs, Northern Illinois University

Participatory Transparency in Kenya: Toward an Engaged

Budgeting Model of Local Governance

Kurt Thurmaier is Distinguished

Engagement Professor and Chair of the

Department of Public Administration, and

Director of the School of Public and Global

Affairs at Northern Illinois University.

His research interests include state and

local public budgeting, local government

collaboration, intergovernmental fiscal

relations, city–county consolidations,

and comparative public management.

His current research projects include

citizen-engaged budgeting and planning

in local governments. His career includes

four years in the Wisconsin State Budget

Office as a budget and management

analyst; and consultant work on various

US city–county consolidation efforts. He

received his PhD from the Maxwell School,

Syracuse University, and his MPPA from

UW-Madison. In addition to numerous

published articles, he has co-authored or

co-edited six books.

Email: kthur@niu.edu

Frankline Muthomi is a doctoral

candidate at Northern Illinois University.

His research interests include participatory

budgeting, citizen participation, and

performance-based budgeting, including

practices in developing and transitioning

administrations. He received his MPA from

the University of Nairobi, Kenya. Prior to his

studies at NIU, he worked with the National

Government of Kenya and participated

in the development, planning, and

implementation of the annual budget at the

ministerial level.

Email: fmuthomi1@niu.edu.

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 81, Iss. 3, pp. 519–531. © 2020 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.13294.