Participatory Budgeting
Participatory budgeting is a process in which a wide range of stakeholders debate, analyze, prioritize, and monitor decisions about public expenditures and investments. Stakeholders can include the general public, poor and vulnerable groups including women, organized civil society, the private sector, representative assemblies or parliaments, and donors.
Participatory budgeting can occur in three different stages of public expenditure management:
· Budget formulation and analysis. Citizens participate in allocating budgets according to priorities they have identified in participatory poverty diagnostics; formulate alternate budgets; or assess proposed allocations in relation to a government's policy commitments and stated concerns and objectives.
· Expenditure monitoring and tracking. Citizens track whether public spending is consistent with allocations made in the budget and track the flow of funds to the agencies responsible for the delivery of goods and services.
· Monitoring of public service delivery. Citizens monitor the quality of goods and services provided by government in relation to expenditures made for these goods and services, a process similar to citizen report cards or scorecards.
Increased participation in budgeting can lead to the formulation of and investment in pro-poor policies, greater societal consensus, and support for difficult policy reforms. Experiences with participatory budgeting have shown positive links between participation, sound macroeconomic policies, and more effective government. Participatory budgeting processes have been utilized in a number of different countries, including Ireland, Canada, India, Uganda, Brazil, and South Africa.