From demands to deliberation: participatory budgeting in Pittsburgh (original) (raw)

In 2015, the City of Pittsburgh partnered with several community organizations to design and pilot a unique model of PB tailored to best meet its needs. As a result of this effort, the City implemented Deliberative Community Budget Forums as a more engaging and inclusive method for soliciting public input on the 2016 Capital Budget. This paper seeks to evaluate the impact of the Deliberative Forums on the quality and level of community participation, deliberation, and engagement, as well as measure outcomes in the budget. Data collected from the 2014 Community Budget Hearings are used as a baseline for comparison. The study found the forums led to considerable quantitative and qualitative improvements in the budget process with respect to public participation and deliberation, and increased general knowledge of the budget and political engagement among participants. The study also determined areas where the forums could be improved, particularly in regards to diversity and political...