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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

How Does Participatory Budgeting Affect Council Member Priorities?, Dan Williams, Thad Calabrese, Anubhav Gupta, Samuli Harju Sep 2017

How Does Participatory Budgeting Affect Council Member Priorities?, Dan Williams, Thad Calabrese, Anubhav Gupta, Samuli Harju

Publications and Research

There is a growing literature concerning participatory budgeting (PB), which transfers some element of budgetary decision making from the executive or legislature to the citizens. It is widely held that this practice originated in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 1989, although there is evidence of antecedents from the 1970s and 1980s and co-developments elsewhere in Brazil (Goldfrank, 2007; Souza, 2001). During the earlier years of development, this practice was found primarily in less developed countries. Early PB reoriented government expenditures to better focus on the needs of the populace. Substantial shares of the budget (9.8-21%) were allocated through participatory process (Souza, …


From Porto Alegre To New York City: Participatory Budgeting And Democracy, Celina Su Feb 2017

From Porto Alegre To New York City: Participatory Budgeting And Democracy, Celina Su

Publications and Research

Because of its popularity, there is now a large literature examining how participatory budgeting (PB) deepens participation by the poor and redistributes resources. Closer examinations of recent cases of PB can help us to better understand the political configurations in which these new participatory democratic spaces are embedded, and articulate the conditions that might lead to more meaningful outcomes. Who participates? For whose benefit? The articles in this symposium, on participatory budgeting in New York City (PBNYC), highlight both strengths and challenges of the largest American PB process. They focus less on redistribution, more on the dimensions of the process …


Beyond Inclusion: Critical Race Theory And Participatory Budgeting, Celina Su Feb 2017

Beyond Inclusion: Critical Race Theory And Participatory Budgeting, Celina Su

Publications and Research

Critical Race Theory (CRT) researchers maintain that mainstream liberal discourses of neutrality and colorblindness inherently reify existing patterns of inequality, and that privileging the voices of people of color and the marginalized is essential to addressing issues of equity and equality. Participatory budgeting (PB) aims, too, to include the voices of the marginalized in substantive policy-making. Through a CRT lens, I examine the ways in which the New York City PB process has thus far worked to simultaneously disrupt and maintain racial hierarchies. I pay particular attention to how social constructions of the “good project” shape the discourses around community …