TY - JOUR
T1 - In Participatory Budgeting we Trust?
T2 - Fairness, tactics and (in)accessibility in participatory governance
AU - Wilkinson, Catherine
AU - Briggs, Jo
AU - Salt, Karen
AU - Vines, John
AU - Flynn, Emma
PY - 2019/11/2
Y1 - 2019/11/2
N2 - Participatory budgeting (PB) is a significant innovation in democracy and local development. PB provides the opportunity for citizens to engage in processes of deliberation and decision making upon the allocation of public funds. As new critical discourse emerges surrounding this model of local government spending, a significant area warranting investigation concerns how trust, and indeed mistrust, factor into PB. Through an analysis of interviews with residents and Council staff engaged in PB processes in a county in the north of England, we highlight the ways in which issues of trust can impact on participation in these initiatives, and also strengthen relationships between voting delegates, project teams and local government. This paper argues that increasing the perceived accessibility, and reconsidering the inclusion of mass membership groups in PB, might help to create progressive, effective and trustful participation.
AB - Participatory budgeting (PB) is a significant innovation in democracy and local development. PB provides the opportunity for citizens to engage in processes of deliberation and decision making upon the allocation of public funds. As new critical discourse emerges surrounding this model of local government spending, a significant area warranting investigation concerns how trust, and indeed mistrust, factor into PB. Through an analysis of interviews with residents and Council staff engaged in PB processes in a county in the north of England, we highlight the ways in which issues of trust can impact on participation in these initiatives, and also strengthen relationships between voting delegates, project teams and local government. This paper argues that increasing the perceived accessibility, and reconsidering the inclusion of mass membership groups in PB, might help to create progressive, effective and trustful participation.
KW - Participatory budgeting
KW - Participation
KW - Trust
KW - Voting
KW - Local government
U2 - 10.1080/03003930.2019.1606798
DO - 10.1080/03003930.2019.1606798
M3 - Article
VL - 45
SP - 1001
EP - 1020
JO - Local Government Studies
JF - Local Government Studies
SN - 0300-3930
IS - 6
ER -