Abstract

Participatory budgeting means involving ordinary citizens in the spending of public funds. Participatory budgeting takes people’s participation beyond selecting their elected representatives to deciding on community development projects, deployment of funds, and other areas of intervention, leading to a democratization of policy arenas. Originating in Brazil in the 1980s, it spread across the world quickly. This case is about the implementation of National Participatory Budget in Portugal.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand the difference between traditional participation and participatory budgeting
• Describe how a participatory budget works
• Examine participatory budgeting as a practice of public participation
• Learn the orbits of public participation
• Analyze five modes of public participation and the role of public participation in collaborative problem solving

Keywords

Participatory budget; people’s participation; community development; deployment of funds; public participation; orbits of public participation; modes of public participation; governance; development; public participation spectrum