Overview
Through a local democratic process, community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. Participatory budgeting enables residents to work with their government to make decisions that affect their daily lives.
In 1989, the workers’ party implemented participatory budgeting in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil, making it the first city in the world to have this. Participatory budgeting was intended to directly include citizens in government decision-making, after years of military dictatorship had excluded them. For nearly 20 years, as many as 50,000 people participated annually in making decisions on how to spend up to 20 percent of the city’s budget. In 2017, the practice was suspended by the newly elected Brazilian Social Democracy Party, which cited a lack of resources and a need to reform the process.
Despite the setbacks in Porto Alegre, participatory budgeting has spread to over 3,000 cities in Latin America, North America, Asia, Africa, and Europe since 1989. Most participatory budgeting processes involve the municipal budget in cities of all sizes, from ones with less than 20,000 inhabitants (e.g., Icapuí and Mundo Novo in Brazil, and Grottomare in Italy) to mega-cities like Buenos Aires, New York, and São Paulo. Participatory budgeting has worked in both rural municipalities (like Governador Valadares, Brazil) and completely urban ones (like Belo Horizonte), and in cities with both scarce and plentiful public resources. The process can be applied at any level of governance, including counties, states, housing authorities, schools and school systems, universities, and other public agencies.
When community members decide spending through a public process, there are fewer opportunities for corruption, waste, or backlash.
Though each participatory budgeting process is different, most follow a similar basic structure: residents brainstorm spending ideas, volunteer budget delegates develop proposals based on these ideas, and residents vote on the proposals. The government implements the top projects and then begins planning and revising the process for the next time. For example, if community members identify recreation spaces as a priority, their delegates might develop a proposal for basketball court renovations. The residents would then vote on this and other proposals, and if they choose the basketball court, the city uses the funds they allocated to renovate it.
In fact, in the Kadutu community of the South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, participatory budgeting led to renovations of basketball and volleyball courts in 2012. There, much of the process relies on mobile phone technology and SMS voting to ensure widespread participation. Throughout the province, participatory budgeting also led to the construction of nearly 60 new classrooms, a public health center, and public restrooms, along with the repair of a dangerous bridge.
Participatory budgeting relies upon both the political will of officials and community support. Someone with control over budget money (an elected official, agency head, or department director) must participate in the process and agree to let the public decide how to spend part of the budget. Participation from community organizations, particularly those working with marginalized groups, is necessary to engage people and push the process forward. The result is a process that is both top-down and grassroots.
Participatory budgeting does not require a new pot of money but a change into how funding decisions are made. Some resources are necessary to carry out the process, but this investment saves money down the road, as participants discover new ways to make limited budgets go further.
As with any kind of public participation, there is a risk that the individuals and groups with the most power will dominate the process. But this risk can be minimized by setting low barriers for participation, encouraging community members to both plan and lead the process, and doing targeted outreach to ensure inclusion of underrepresented communities.
Budgeting is a large part of what governments do. When community members decide spending through a public process, there are fewer opportunities for corruption, waste, or backlash. Ordinary people have a real say—and they get to make real political decisions. As a result, participatory budgeting tends to engage many people who are otherwise cynical about government. Politicians build closer relationships with their constituents, and community members develop greater trust in government. Participants become more active and informed citizens. Community members, staff, and elected officials learn democracy—by doing it together.
