Participatory Budgeting
In this session we are going to
• Learn about what participatory budgeting (PB) is
• Explore why PB is used in hundreds of cities
across the world
• Learn about the PB model used in Porto Alegre,
Brazil
• Discuss the budgeting processes currently used
in your municipality
• Discuss what the advantages and
disadvantages of using PB in your municipality
might be
• Create a possible PB model for your municipality
What is Participatory Budgeting
Participatory budgeting is a process of democratic
deliberation and decision-making, where ordinary
community members decide how to allocate part of a
public budget through a series of local assemblies and
meetings.
It usually features:
– community members identifying spending priorities and electing
budget delegates to represent them,
– budget delegates transforming community priorities into concrete
project proposals,
– public employees facilitating and providing technical assistance,
– community members voting on which projects to fund, and
– the public authority implementing the projects.
Why do PB?
Participatory budgeting can lead to:
• more equitable public spending
• higher quality of life through increased
satisfaction of basic needs,
• greater government transparency and
accountability,
• increased levels of public participation
Increased participation
• Opening up the budget process to direct
involvement of the community is a guaranteed
way of getting the community involved
• It has been used in particular to engage and
empower the poorest members of society,
• Being involved in the budget process builds
people’s capacity and interest in being involved
in other government and governance processes
• It relies on a healthy civil society and helps to
maintain and build that level of civil society
It’s about sharing power!
• Principle involved is that citizens have the
right to control the budget, because the
budget is the real face of the government
• It’s not just consultation.
PB’s biggest strength and greatest
weakness
• The biggest strength and the greatest
weakness of participatory budgeting is that
it is focused on short-term tangible
outcomes.
• It appeals to people’s self interest and
benefits, not just community benefit
PB around the world
• Participatory budgeting began in Porto Alegre
Brazil, 20 years ago
• Participatory budgeting processes are now run
in hundreds of cities across the world, with the
majority in Latin America and Europe.
• A guide to participatory budgeting in the UK has
just been produced, and an African regional
seminar was held earlier this year.
The Porto Alegre experience
1.5 million people
Area 476 km2
GDP $US 8 billion.
Total budget of the Porto Alegre
City Hall $US1.6 billion.
Illiteracy rate of 3.4%;
Infant mortality of 14.4 deaths per
1000 births
17% of houses are in illegal
settlements.
The PA PB process
• The Porto Alegre participatory budgeting process has
been running for twenty years
• The process directly determines the expenditure of 12%
of the Porto Alegre budget – or around $US 200 million.
• Described as a political commitment between
government and civil society
• It involves many thousands of residents and community
organisations every year.
• The people who participate are typically low income but
not the lowest income, and have a reasonable level of
education.
Porto Alegre
Participatory
Budgeting
process
Orçamento
Participativo
City of Porto Alegre is divided into 17 geographic
regions for the PB process
The PB process also looks at budget requests
across six city-wide themes:
– circulation, transport and urban mobility;
– city organisation, urban and environmental
development;
– economic development, tax and tourism,
– culture
– health and social assistance and
– education, sports and leisure.
The process over the year
•
•
•
•
March – April
April – May
May – July
July – October
• September – October
• October – December
• December – January
Preparatory meetings
Regional and theme assemblies
Delegates forums
Municipal assemblies
(held weekly)
Budget sent to City Legislative
Assembly
Detailed investments and services
plan is prepared.
Projects begin to be implemented
Any changes to PB process
discussed and determined
Region and theme assemblies
Each assembly…
Each assembly is usually attended by 500 - 1000 people.
Four main items are on the agenda :
• A report about the activities of the previous year
• An opportunity for people to have their say on a particular issue
• Voting by choosing four priorities from a list. The 2008 list was:
Housing
Economic development, taxation and tourism
Social assistance
Education (including childcare)
Basic sanitation , sewerage and drainage
Environmental health
Accessibility and urban mobility
Circulation and transport
Youth
Health
Culture
Public lighting
Tourism
Sport and leisure
Recreation areas
• Two Participatory Budget Councillors are elected.
Each 10 participants at an Assembly entitle the region or theme to
one delegate.
The link between PB and
representative democracy
• .
• 61% of Porto Alegre population in a survey reported that
they felt PB was more important than their legislative
assembly.
• Although the PB process is highly successful at involving
people, there are still groups that are not well
represented – the very poor and the elderly in particular.
• Not many people move from being actively involved in
the PB process to standing for election to the city
legislative assembly.
• There is some friction between the legislature and the
PB process. Some members of the legislative assembly
see PB as a support – others see it as a challenge
What happens in your municipality?
• At your table discuss the budget
processes that are currently in use in your
municipality
• What are their advantages and
disadvantages?
• Report back
Could PB work for you?
• What would you see the main advantages
in introducing PB to your municipality?
• What would be the main disadvantages, or
the biggest barriers in introducing it?
• What could a Misamis Occidental PB
model look like?