Stephanie McNulty | Franklin & Marshall College (original) (raw)
Publications and Papers by Stephanie McNulty
As citizens increasingly work to improve transparency and governance, participatory budgeting (PB... more As citizens increasingly work to improve transparency and governance, participatory budgeting (PB) has
emerged in thousands of cities. Advocates argue that PB can serve to educate citizens, increase transparency, and even
improve living standards in the cities and towns that implement this form of public finance. However, we still know very
little about how inclusive these processes are. This article asks: first, are participatory budgeting processes engaging
women and men equally? Second, if gender exclusion is taking place, why? Finally, what can the development
community do to begin to eradicate exclusion? Through the case study of participatory budgeting in Peru, the article
documents that participatory budgeting in this country is not inclusive. Economic barriers, combined with the fact that
women are expected to take on most domestic duties, make it very hard for women to actually attend meetings,
especially in rural areas where poverty and patriarchy are more pronounced. Additionally, the weakness of women’s
organizations prevents many organizations from registering to attend these processes. The article concludes with
recommendations for advocates who wish to rectify these challenges through concrete interventions.
In the face of high levels of distrust in political parties, policy-makers, intellectuals, and ac... more In the face of high levels of distrust in political parties, policy-makers, intellectuals, and activists in Latin
America have created “institutions of participatory governance,” or IPGs, to engage everyday citizens in
political decision-making. This essay explores the rise of nationally mandated participatory institutions
in Latin America as a partial response to the failures of the party system to engage citizens and channel
their interests in the policy making process. It asks: to what extent are IPGs serving citizens’ needs? The
evidence provided through two case studies demonstrates that, like the political party systems in several
countries, many IPGs do not effectively represent the diversity of interests of Latin American citizens.
Nor are they engaging a wide array of constituents. In the two cases that are discussed—Bolivia and
Guatemala—this failure is partly due to the same problems that plague political parties, such as
clientelism, discrimination, and corruption. The article concludes that to improve democratic governance
in the region, both representative and participatory institutions need to be reformed.
As institutions are created to engage citizens and civil society organizations more directly, who... more As institutions are created to engage citizens and civil society organizations more
directly, who participates, and what effect does participation have? This article explores
two of Peru’s participatory institutions, the Regional Coordination Councils and the
participatory budgets, created in 2002. Specifically it asks, once these institutions are
set up, do organizations participate in them? and what effect does this participation
have on the organizations? The data show that the participatory processes in Peru are
including new voices in decisionmaking, but this inclusion has limits. Limited inclusion
has, in turn, led to limited changes specifically in nongovernmental organizations.
As a result, the democratizing potential of the participatory institutions is evident yet
not fully realized.
PENSAMIENTO PROPIO es una publicación de análisis socioeconómico y político. Estimula estudios ... more PENSAMIENTO PROPIO es una publicación
de análisis socioeconómico y político.
Estimula estudios que enfoquen a América
Latina y el Caribe en su totalidad, con
el propósito de crear un foro intelectual
abierto a las propuestas democráticas para
la región.
Las ideas expresadas en los textos aquí
publicados son de exclusiva responsabilidad
de sus autores, y no reflejan necesariamente
el punto de vista de Pensamiento
Propio.
La Coordinadora Regional de Investigaciones
Económicas y Sociales (CRIES)
es una red de centros de investigación
y organizaciones no-gubernamentales,
que actúa como un think tank regional,
promoviendo el análisis, el debate y la
formulación de políticas sobre temas de
relevancia regional, hemisférica y global,
desde la perspectiva de la sociedad civil.
Fue constituida en 1982 y en la actualidad
cuenta con más de 35 centros,
instituciones académicas, redes, asociaciones,
fundaciones y organizaciones
no-gubernamentales afiliadas de toda la
región y coordina actividades y programas
con redes y centros de investigación a nivel
global.
CRIES es una institución independiente
y sin fines de lucro que promueve
el pluralismo y la participación ciudadana y
que no esta afiliada a ninguna organización
política o religiosa.
Para más información sobre las actividades
y las publicaciones de la red, visitar
la página www.cries.org.
El Comité Editorial de Pensamiento
Propio invita a todas las personas interesadas
a enviar sus aportes a este foro de
debate, pero se reserva el derecho de publicación
de las colaboraciones recibidas.
Los artículos publicados en la sección
Investigación y Análisis son sometidos a
evaluación externa antes de ser aprobados
para su publicación. Se permite la reproducción
de los contenidos, a condición de
que se mencione la fuente y se envíen dos
copias a la redacción.
Latin American Politics and Society, 2006
Books by Stephanie McNulty
Democracy From Above? The Unfulfilled Promise of Nationally Mandated Participatory Reforms, 2019
People are increasingly unhappy with their governments in democracies around the world. In coun... more People are increasingly unhappy with their governments in democracies around the world. In countries as diverse as India, Ecuador, and Uganda, governments are responding to frustrations by mandating greater citizen participation at the local and state level. Officials embrace participatory reforms, believing that citizen councils and committees lead to improved accountability and more informed communities. Yet there's been little research on the efficacy of these efforts to improve democracy, despite an explosion in their popularity since the mid-1980s. Democracy from Above? tests the hypothesis that top-down reforms strengthen democracies and evaluates the conditions that affect their success.
Stephanie L. McNulty addresses the global context of participatory reforms in developing nations. She observes and interprets what happens after greater citizen involvement is mandated in seventeen countries, with close case studies of Guatemala, Bolivia, and Peru. The first cross-national comparison on this issue, Democracy from Above? explores whether the reforms effectively redress the persistent problems of discrimination, elite capture, clientelism, and corruption in the countries that adopt them. As officials and reformers around the world and at every level of government look to strengthen citizen involvement and confidence in the political process, McNulty provides a clear understanding of the possibilities and limitations of nationally mandated participatory reforms.
Papers by Stephanie McNulty
Oxford University Press eBooks, Jun 25, 2021
This chapter develops an original “theory of change” that connects PB programs to three community... more This chapter develops an original “theory of change” that connects PB programs to three community-level outcomes: the promotion of accountability, expansion of civil society, and improvements in well-being. To explain the variation in outcomes, this explanatory framework includes macro-level (political context, decentralization, economic conditions) and meso-level (government support, configuration of civil society, state capacity) factors that condition PB programs’ impacts. The discussion then moves beyond the macro and meso to drill down to “variation in program design.” The chapter identifies several rules (scale/level of adoption, presence of social justice rules, program emphasis on social inclusion, vote rules, and oversight process) that significantly influence the outcomes that PB programs produce. Thus, this chapter illuminates how variation in the macro, meso, and PB design rules condition and constrain the types of outcomes associated with PB. The chapter concludes by linking the theory of change to the PB Types (introduced in Chapter 1) to theorize how each PB program type is likely to be associated with distinct impacts.
Can a nationally mandated participatory budget process (PB) change the nature of local governance... more Can a nationally mandated participatory budget process (PB) change the nature of local governance? Passed in 2003 to mandate participatory budgeting in all districts and regions of Peru, Peru's National PB Law has garnered international attention from proponents of participatory governance. However, to date, the results of the process have not been widely documented. Presenting data that have been gathered through fieldwork, online databases, and primary documents, this paper explores the results of Peru’s PB after ten years of implementation. The paper finds that results are limited. While there are a significant number of actors engaged in the process, the PB is still dominated by elite actors that do not represent the diversity of the civil society sector in Peru. Participants approve important “pro-poor” projects, but they are not always executed. Finally, two important indicators of governance, sub-national conflict and trust in local institutions, have not improved over time. Until Peruvian politicians make a concerted effort to move beyond politics as usual, results will continue to be limited.
Emerging Trends in the Social and Behavioral Sciences, May 15, 2015
Routledge eBooks, Jun 29, 2020
Do participatory institutions facilitate gender empowerment? As these institutions spread around ... more Do participatory institutions facilitate gender empowerment? As these institutions spread around the world, we still know very little about the gendered nature of participatory democratic spaces. Through the case study of state-mandated participatory budgeting in Peru, this article employs original data on participation to explore gender and inclusion. The study suggests that participatory institutions are not promoting gender equality. Instead, state actors have created new political spaces that exclude women and women's organizations and reify traditional gender norms. Like representative democratic institutions, gender inequities are embedded in these very spaces that are meant to empower all citizens.
Comparative Political Studies, Jun 28, 2023
Despite participatory institutions’ increasing ubiquity, we know little about their effects on go... more Despite participatory institutions’ increasing ubiquity, we know little about their effects on governance and well-being. What we do know comes largely from Brazil, where positive outcomes have been attributed to civil society’s role in implementation. Often, however, participatory institutions are imposed by national governments, with little civil society engagement. In these cases, scholars have argued, participatory institutions are unlikely to improve governance and well-being, as civil society is not present to unlock the institutions’ potential. We test this proposition in Peru, the first country featuring government mandated participatory institutions for all subnational governments. We find, surprisingly, that Peru’s participatory budgeting process increased pro-poor spending and improved citizen’s quality of life. We attribute these outcomes to reduced information asymmetries, made possible by the central role played by an influential and autonomous government agency. We employ a unique panel dataset, as well as an original survey and extensive interviews with government and civil society actors.
Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management
PurposeParticipatory budgeting's (PB’s) proponents hope that bringing development projects to... more PurposeParticipatory budgeting's (PB’s) proponents hope that bringing development projects to historically underserved communities will improve well-being by extending infrastructure and services. This article details the logic connecting PB to well-being, describes the evolution of PB programs as they spread around the world and consolidates global evidence from research that tests hypotheses on PB's impact. The purpose of this paper is to address these issues.Design/methodology/approachUnstructured literature review and comparative case study across five global regions.FindingsThe authors find evidence for PB's impact on well-being in several important contexts, mostly not only in Brazil, but also in Peru and South Korea. They also find that very few rigorous, large-N, comparative studies have evaluated the relationship between PB and well-being and that the prospects for social accountability and PB's sustainability for well-being are not equally strong in all con...
Participatory Budgeting in Global Perspective
This chapter develops an original “theory of change” that connects PB programs to three community... more This chapter develops an original “theory of change” that connects PB programs to three community-level outcomes: the promotion of accountability, expansion of civil society, and improvements in well-being. To explain the variation in outcomes, this explanatory framework includes macro-level (political context, decentralization, economic conditions) and meso-level (government support, configuration of civil society, state capacity) factors that condition PB programs’ impacts. The discussion then moves beyond the macro and meso to drill down to “variation in program design.” The chapter identifies several rules (scale/level of adoption, presence of social justice rules, program emphasis on social inclusion, vote rules, and oversight process) that significantly influence the outcomes that PB programs produce. Thus, this chapter illuminates how variation in the macro, meso, and PB design rules condition and constrain the types of outcomes associated with PB. The chapter concludes by li...
Stanford University Press eBooks, Jun 24, 2020
Participatory Budgeting in Global Perspective
The spread of PB in the North Atlantic region (Europe, the United States, and Canada) is taking p... more The spread of PB in the North Atlantic region (Europe, the United States, and Canada) is taking place as citizen apathy, declining trust, social exclusion, and growing inequalities spread in these wealthier democracies. By 2016, major cities such as New York City, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Chicago, Boston, Seattle, Toronto, and Seville adopted some form of PB. The national governments in Poland and Portugal now mandate some form of PB. The authors see significant institutional innovation in these PB processes as PB’s original rules have been reimagined to address different types of problems. New York City and Chicago initiated their PB programs at sub-municipal levels. Paris, Madrid, and Barcelona had adapted their PB programs to strongly emphasize online participation. At the broadest level, PB in Europe and North America is more heavily geared toward civic education and community empowerment than toward the redistribution of spending priorities. In some place PB remains a ...
As citizens increasingly work to improve transparency and governance, participatory budgeting (PB... more As citizens increasingly work to improve transparency and governance, participatory budgeting (PB) has
emerged in thousands of cities. Advocates argue that PB can serve to educate citizens, increase transparency, and even
improve living standards in the cities and towns that implement this form of public finance. However, we still know very
little about how inclusive these processes are. This article asks: first, are participatory budgeting processes engaging
women and men equally? Second, if gender exclusion is taking place, why? Finally, what can the development
community do to begin to eradicate exclusion? Through the case study of participatory budgeting in Peru, the article
documents that participatory budgeting in this country is not inclusive. Economic barriers, combined with the fact that
women are expected to take on most domestic duties, make it very hard for women to actually attend meetings,
especially in rural areas where poverty and patriarchy are more pronounced. Additionally, the weakness of women’s
organizations prevents many organizations from registering to attend these processes. The article concludes with
recommendations for advocates who wish to rectify these challenges through concrete interventions.
In the face of high levels of distrust in political parties, policy-makers, intellectuals, and ac... more In the face of high levels of distrust in political parties, policy-makers, intellectuals, and activists in Latin
America have created “institutions of participatory governance,” or IPGs, to engage everyday citizens in
political decision-making. This essay explores the rise of nationally mandated participatory institutions
in Latin America as a partial response to the failures of the party system to engage citizens and channel
their interests in the policy making process. It asks: to what extent are IPGs serving citizens’ needs? The
evidence provided through two case studies demonstrates that, like the political party systems in several
countries, many IPGs do not effectively represent the diversity of interests of Latin American citizens.
Nor are they engaging a wide array of constituents. In the two cases that are discussed—Bolivia and
Guatemala—this failure is partly due to the same problems that plague political parties, such as
clientelism, discrimination, and corruption. The article concludes that to improve democratic governance
in the region, both representative and participatory institutions need to be reformed.
As institutions are created to engage citizens and civil society organizations more directly, who... more As institutions are created to engage citizens and civil society organizations more
directly, who participates, and what effect does participation have? This article explores
two of Peru’s participatory institutions, the Regional Coordination Councils and the
participatory budgets, created in 2002. Specifically it asks, once these institutions are
set up, do organizations participate in them? and what effect does this participation
have on the organizations? The data show that the participatory processes in Peru are
including new voices in decisionmaking, but this inclusion has limits. Limited inclusion
has, in turn, led to limited changes specifically in nongovernmental organizations.
As a result, the democratizing potential of the participatory institutions is evident yet
not fully realized.
PENSAMIENTO PROPIO es una publicación de análisis socioeconómico y político. Estimula estudios ... more PENSAMIENTO PROPIO es una publicación
de análisis socioeconómico y político.
Estimula estudios que enfoquen a América
Latina y el Caribe en su totalidad, con
el propósito de crear un foro intelectual
abierto a las propuestas democráticas para
la región.
Las ideas expresadas en los textos aquí
publicados son de exclusiva responsabilidad
de sus autores, y no reflejan necesariamente
el punto de vista de Pensamiento
Propio.
La Coordinadora Regional de Investigaciones
Económicas y Sociales (CRIES)
es una red de centros de investigación
y organizaciones no-gubernamentales,
que actúa como un think tank regional,
promoviendo el análisis, el debate y la
formulación de políticas sobre temas de
relevancia regional, hemisférica y global,
desde la perspectiva de la sociedad civil.
Fue constituida en 1982 y en la actualidad
cuenta con más de 35 centros,
instituciones académicas, redes, asociaciones,
fundaciones y organizaciones
no-gubernamentales afiliadas de toda la
región y coordina actividades y programas
con redes y centros de investigación a nivel
global.
CRIES es una institución independiente
y sin fines de lucro que promueve
el pluralismo y la participación ciudadana y
que no esta afiliada a ninguna organización
política o religiosa.
Para más información sobre las actividades
y las publicaciones de la red, visitar
la página www.cries.org.
El Comité Editorial de Pensamiento
Propio invita a todas las personas interesadas
a enviar sus aportes a este foro de
debate, pero se reserva el derecho de publicación
de las colaboraciones recibidas.
Los artículos publicados en la sección
Investigación y Análisis son sometidos a
evaluación externa antes de ser aprobados
para su publicación. Se permite la reproducción
de los contenidos, a condición de
que se mencione la fuente y se envíen dos
copias a la redacción.
Latin American Politics and Society, 2006
Democracy From Above? The Unfulfilled Promise of Nationally Mandated Participatory Reforms, 2019
People are increasingly unhappy with their governments in democracies around the world. In coun... more People are increasingly unhappy with their governments in democracies around the world. In countries as diverse as India, Ecuador, and Uganda, governments are responding to frustrations by mandating greater citizen participation at the local and state level. Officials embrace participatory reforms, believing that citizen councils and committees lead to improved accountability and more informed communities. Yet there's been little research on the efficacy of these efforts to improve democracy, despite an explosion in their popularity since the mid-1980s. Democracy from Above? tests the hypothesis that top-down reforms strengthen democracies and evaluates the conditions that affect their success.
Stephanie L. McNulty addresses the global context of participatory reforms in developing nations. She observes and interprets what happens after greater citizen involvement is mandated in seventeen countries, with close case studies of Guatemala, Bolivia, and Peru. The first cross-national comparison on this issue, Democracy from Above? explores whether the reforms effectively redress the persistent problems of discrimination, elite capture, clientelism, and corruption in the countries that adopt them. As officials and reformers around the world and at every level of government look to strengthen citizen involvement and confidence in the political process, McNulty provides a clear understanding of the possibilities and limitations of nationally mandated participatory reforms.
Oxford University Press eBooks, Jun 25, 2021
This chapter develops an original “theory of change” that connects PB programs to three community... more This chapter develops an original “theory of change” that connects PB programs to three community-level outcomes: the promotion of accountability, expansion of civil society, and improvements in well-being. To explain the variation in outcomes, this explanatory framework includes macro-level (political context, decentralization, economic conditions) and meso-level (government support, configuration of civil society, state capacity) factors that condition PB programs’ impacts. The discussion then moves beyond the macro and meso to drill down to “variation in program design.” The chapter identifies several rules (scale/level of adoption, presence of social justice rules, program emphasis on social inclusion, vote rules, and oversight process) that significantly influence the outcomes that PB programs produce. Thus, this chapter illuminates how variation in the macro, meso, and PB design rules condition and constrain the types of outcomes associated with PB. The chapter concludes by linking the theory of change to the PB Types (introduced in Chapter 1) to theorize how each PB program type is likely to be associated with distinct impacts.
Can a nationally mandated participatory budget process (PB) change the nature of local governance... more Can a nationally mandated participatory budget process (PB) change the nature of local governance? Passed in 2003 to mandate participatory budgeting in all districts and regions of Peru, Peru's National PB Law has garnered international attention from proponents of participatory governance. However, to date, the results of the process have not been widely documented. Presenting data that have been gathered through fieldwork, online databases, and primary documents, this paper explores the results of Peru’s PB after ten years of implementation. The paper finds that results are limited. While there are a significant number of actors engaged in the process, the PB is still dominated by elite actors that do not represent the diversity of the civil society sector in Peru. Participants approve important “pro-poor” projects, but they are not always executed. Finally, two important indicators of governance, sub-national conflict and trust in local institutions, have not improved over time. Until Peruvian politicians make a concerted effort to move beyond politics as usual, results will continue to be limited.
Emerging Trends in the Social and Behavioral Sciences, May 15, 2015
Routledge eBooks, Jun 29, 2020
Do participatory institutions facilitate gender empowerment? As these institutions spread around ... more Do participatory institutions facilitate gender empowerment? As these institutions spread around the world, we still know very little about the gendered nature of participatory democratic spaces. Through the case study of state-mandated participatory budgeting in Peru, this article employs original data on participation to explore gender and inclusion. The study suggests that participatory institutions are not promoting gender equality. Instead, state actors have created new political spaces that exclude women and women's organizations and reify traditional gender norms. Like representative democratic institutions, gender inequities are embedded in these very spaces that are meant to empower all citizens.
Comparative Political Studies, Jun 28, 2023
Despite participatory institutions’ increasing ubiquity, we know little about their effects on go... more Despite participatory institutions’ increasing ubiquity, we know little about their effects on governance and well-being. What we do know comes largely from Brazil, where positive outcomes have been attributed to civil society’s role in implementation. Often, however, participatory institutions are imposed by national governments, with little civil society engagement. In these cases, scholars have argued, participatory institutions are unlikely to improve governance and well-being, as civil society is not present to unlock the institutions’ potential. We test this proposition in Peru, the first country featuring government mandated participatory institutions for all subnational governments. We find, surprisingly, that Peru’s participatory budgeting process increased pro-poor spending and improved citizen’s quality of life. We attribute these outcomes to reduced information asymmetries, made possible by the central role played by an influential and autonomous government agency. We employ a unique panel dataset, as well as an original survey and extensive interviews with government and civil society actors.
Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management
PurposeParticipatory budgeting's (PB’s) proponents hope that bringing development projects to... more PurposeParticipatory budgeting's (PB’s) proponents hope that bringing development projects to historically underserved communities will improve well-being by extending infrastructure and services. This article details the logic connecting PB to well-being, describes the evolution of PB programs as they spread around the world and consolidates global evidence from research that tests hypotheses on PB's impact. The purpose of this paper is to address these issues.Design/methodology/approachUnstructured literature review and comparative case study across five global regions.FindingsThe authors find evidence for PB's impact on well-being in several important contexts, mostly not only in Brazil, but also in Peru and South Korea. They also find that very few rigorous, large-N, comparative studies have evaluated the relationship between PB and well-being and that the prospects for social accountability and PB's sustainability for well-being are not equally strong in all con...
Participatory Budgeting in Global Perspective
This chapter develops an original “theory of change” that connects PB programs to three community... more This chapter develops an original “theory of change” that connects PB programs to three community-level outcomes: the promotion of accountability, expansion of civil society, and improvements in well-being. To explain the variation in outcomes, this explanatory framework includes macro-level (political context, decentralization, economic conditions) and meso-level (government support, configuration of civil society, state capacity) factors that condition PB programs’ impacts. The discussion then moves beyond the macro and meso to drill down to “variation in program design.” The chapter identifies several rules (scale/level of adoption, presence of social justice rules, program emphasis on social inclusion, vote rules, and oversight process) that significantly influence the outcomes that PB programs produce. Thus, this chapter illuminates how variation in the macro, meso, and PB design rules condition and constrain the types of outcomes associated with PB. The chapter concludes by li...
Stanford University Press eBooks, Jun 24, 2020
Participatory Budgeting in Global Perspective
The spread of PB in the North Atlantic region (Europe, the United States, and Canada) is taking p... more The spread of PB in the North Atlantic region (Europe, the United States, and Canada) is taking place as citizen apathy, declining trust, social exclusion, and growing inequalities spread in these wealthier democracies. By 2016, major cities such as New York City, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Chicago, Boston, Seattle, Toronto, and Seville adopted some form of PB. The national governments in Poland and Portugal now mandate some form of PB. The authors see significant institutional innovation in these PB processes as PB’s original rules have been reimagined to address different types of problems. New York City and Chicago initiated their PB programs at sub-municipal levels. Paris, Madrid, and Barcelona had adapted their PB programs to strongly emphasize online participation. At the broadest level, PB in Europe and North America is more heavily geared toward civic education and community empowerment than toward the redistribution of spending priorities. In some place PB remains a ...
Participatory Budgeting in Global Perspective
Governments in sub-Saharan Africa began to adopt PB in the early 2000s. The World Bank, USAID, DF... more Governments in sub-Saharan Africa began to adopt PB in the early 2000s. The World Bank, USAID, DFID, and other international organization led the push to expand PB. By 2019, the region included more than nine hundred programs. PB’s diffusion across sub-Saharan Africa has led to its transformation in scale, rules, and impact. Most PB programs in sub-Saharan Africa focus on building accountability and allowing participants to select small-scale development projects. These programs are located both in major cities (Maputo, Nairobi) as well as in poor, rural areas across the region. These programs are intended to improve local governance, but the involvement of international donors means that local governments must address their concerns as well as those of participants. The programs also emphasize placing new development projects in poor, marginalized communities, thus retaining potential for improving well-being. This chapter documents these trends by focusing on PB in Kenya, Madagasc...
Participatory Budgeting in Global Perspective
This chapter summarizes the main findings about PB’s adoption, adaptation, and impact. It raises ... more This chapter summarizes the main findings about PB’s adoption, adaptation, and impact. It raises questions about PB’s future and the limited evidence that continues to hamper researchers and policymakers’ ability to make key policy recommendations. PB is now used in settings as diverse as large cities in wealthy industrialized democracies, rural, low-income villages in countries governed by semi-authoritarian regimes, municipalities of middle-income countries in the Global South, and a variety of contexts in authoritarian countries. This diversity of program types and institutional contexts showcases the allure of PB around the world. Yet, it also highlights the challenges facing policymakers as they consider creating their own programs. The chapter ends with a conceptual discussion to guide policymakers as they adopt or support PB in the future.
Participatory Budgeting in Global Perspective
Latin America is PB’s birthplace and the region where it was first widely adopted. PB currently e... more Latin America is PB’s birthplace and the region where it was first widely adopted. PB currently exists in almost every country of this region of the world. This chapter documents PB development in Brazil, its spread from Brazil to other countries as well as PB’s transformation since the 1990s, when it changed from a social justice program to a policy tool that promotes citizen empowerment and community mobilization. Latin America also led the way with the first mandated programs, as Peru’s national government was the first country in the world to require that all subnational governments adopt PB. Latin American PB programs are among the most studied in the world, which means that solid research findings identify when and where PB produces significant social and political change. Most importantly, there are many comparative, longitudinal, and large-N studies from Brazil that demonstrate that PB is generating positive change. But, research on other countries, such as Peru and Mexico, ...
American Behavioral Scientist
Participatory budgeting (PB) is designed to leverage local knowledge about community needs and tr... more Participatory budgeting (PB) is designed to leverage local knowledge about community needs and translate spending preferences into tangible community development action by giving communities control over key budgetary resources. Moreover, PB participants learn about decision-making processes in development policy and can organize to pursue their communities’ interests beyond the PB process by engaging with government and civil society. PB advocates hope that infrastructure, service delivery, and, ultimately, well-being will improve for underserved communities and groups that have been historically excluded from the perspective of representative democracy. This article presents the theoretical logic connecting PB to community development and summarizes the global evidence from studies that test the theoretical propositions above. We find evidence for PB’s impact on community development performance in several important contexts. However, we also note that many hypotheses have yet to ...
Participatory Budgeting in Global Perspective, 2021
This chapter develops a framework to explain how and why governments adopt and adapt PB as it spr... more This chapter develops a framework to explain how and why governments adopt and adapt PB as it spreads around the world. The chapter identifies three waves of adoption: 1989 through the mid-1990s; mid-1990s through mid-2000s; and mid-2000s through 2020. Within each wave, the authors identify where PB is adopted and who is driving adoption. They identify and explain key transformations in the areas of scale/place of adoption, decision-making rules, and social justice considerations during each wave. This chapter also provides a typology to help categorize the global patterns of change that we see across the PB landscape. The chapter identifies six types of PB programs, including: Empowered Democracy and Redistribution; Deepening Democracy through Community Mobilization; Mandated by National Governments; Digital Participation; Social Accountability and Development; Efficient Governance. The typology links PB’s core principles and the political motivations of the main actors promoting a...
Perspectives on Politics, 2019
Caribe viven un profundo proceso de transformación. Tanto la región como cada uno de los países a... more Caribe viven un profundo proceso de transformación. Tanto la región como cada uno de los países atraviesan por períodos de transición y, en algunos casos de crisis política y económica, debidos tanto al impacto de los cambios del entorno regional y global como a las propias dinámicas de cada sociedad. CRIES ha dado seguimiento en forma consistente a las transformaciones internacionales, particularmente a través de la publicación del Anuario de la Integración de América Latina y el Caribe y de algunas ediciones especiales de esta revista, generando análisis y estudios sostenidos sobre el tema. Sin embargo, esta vez el presente número de Pensamiento Propio está focalizado en el análisis de las oportunidades y dificultades por las que atraviesan las sociedades latinoamericanas y caribeñas y sus sistemas democráticos. La participación y la representación ciudadana y la construcción de una ciudadanía política, en estos tiempos de transición, son factores determinantes en el futuro devenir de las democracias de la región. Es por ello que hemos invitado a organizar este número como editor a un investigador brasileño de reconocida trayectoria en el campo-el profesor Wagner