Studying Participatory Budgeting

• Date: 01 June 2018
• Published date: 01 June 2018
• DOI: 10.1177/0160323X18784333
• Author: Marcia L. Godwin
• Subject Matter: Reviews & Essays

Reviews & Essays

Studying Participatory Budgeting:

Democratic Innovation

or Budgeting Tool?

Marcia L. Godwin

1

Abstract

Participatory budgeting (PB) is increasingly being used by local governments. The first American PB

process was in Chicago in 2009 and built upon processes developed in Brazil. The adoption of PB

programs in the United States has beenclosely tied to deliberative democracy and publicengagement

scholarship. Asa result, PB research has benefited from detailed evaluations conductedas the first PB

programs were implemented. This review essay also identifies research findings and topics for addi-

tional research. Public administration scholars and practitioners can especially contribute to this

emerging literature by examining budget outcomes and the perspectives of public sector employees.

Keywords

participatory budgeting, civic engagement, public participation, budgeting, local politics

Participatory budgeting (PB) stands out as both

a civic engagement and budgeting innovation

because members of the public generate and

then vote on funding proposals. PB certainly

gives residents more influence than provided

through typical venues like public hearings,

workshops, advisory committees, and neigh-

borhood outreach (Berner and Smith 2004;

Herian 2011; Institute for Local Government

2010; Matkin 2010). Even new financial trans-

parency dashboards and online budget simula-

tions fall short of giving the public a full

voice in budget decisions (Bernick et al.

2014; Mallinson 2018).

The Participatory Budgeting Project’s (PBP)

slogan, “Real Money,Real Power” encapsulates

the main distinction betweenPB and other forms

of public participation in budgeting. PB belongs

on one of the top rungs of Arnstein’s (1969) oft-

cited ladder of citizen participation. The multi-

phase PB process also matches up well with the

Spectrum of Public Participation (International

Association of Public Participation 2014); parti-

cipants move across the Spectrum’s categories

(inform,consult,involve,collaborate,and

empower) as participants develop budget pro-

posals, evaluat e feasibility, and vote.

PB processes in the United States are mod-

eled after processes first devel oped in 1989 in

Porto Alegre, Brazil (Baiocchi 2003; Smith

2009). While there are number of variations

in how PB has been implemented in other coun-

tries and continents, PB was brought to the

1

Department of Public and Health Administration, Uni-

versity of La Verne, La Verne, CA, USA

Corresponding Author:

Marcia L. Godwin, Department of Public and Health

Administration, University of La Verne, 1950 Third Street,

CBPM 123, La Verne, CA 91750, USA.

Email: mgodwin@laverne.edu

State and Local GovernmentReview

2018, Vol. 50(2) 132-144

ªThe Author(s) 2018

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DOI: 10.1177/0160323X18784333

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