Participatory Budgeting or Participatory Budgetary (P.B) is a novelty given birth to in Brazil, and it can be summarized to be a practice when citizen assemblies in each district of a city to determine priorities for the use of part of the city revenue. Participatory Budgetary opens up the field and creates a space for local communities to discuss the equitable distribution of resources. The idea behind participatory budgeting is the aim to increase citizens participation and local government showcases the two major ingredients of democracy (re-democratization).
What is also evident in the different conceptualization of Participatory Budgetary are Citizens participation, Government accounting, and the equitable distribution of resources. This evidences translate into what is perceived as the Unconventional or Unorthodox Concept of Development, which denotes that development is not about how much a Country, State and people have but how equitably distributed and consumed with honour and dignity in a geo-political zone/ State in a particular time or period. It deals with what a Country, State, People and Nation do with what they have and making sure it is distributed and consumed justifiably this is one of the aims of participatory budgetary.
A HISTORY OF PARTICIPATORY BUDGETARY
Brazil is the largest country in South America and one of the largest and most populous countries in the world. Brazil was colonized by the Portuguese for over two centuries (1500-1822). Upon independence Brazil was ruled by an emperor, it later established a provisional government which was removed from 1980s Brasil began a transition to a form of democracy . This form of democracy is what can be called participatory budgetary.
The widespread adoption of participatory institutions accompanied the establishment of democratic regimes in Latin America during the 1980s and 1990s. In Latin America, many local (subnational) governments have adopted participatory institutions in hopes that the direct incorporation of citizens into state-sanctioned policy making venues will promote social justice, increase transparency, and engage citizens by giving them voice and vote over substantive policy issues.
The process of participatory budgeting as a system was introduced in Porto Alegre, the capital of Brazil’s southernmost state, Rio Grande do Sul in 1989 by (Partido de Trabalhadores, or PT) which is a coalition of civil society activists and Workers’ Party. and have since then spread to different municipalities having about 250. From 1990-2014. Thus P.B is a novelty given birth to in Brazil.
In Summary, what is also evident in the different conceptualization of participatory budgetary is Citizens participation, Government accounting, the equitable distribution and consumption of resources with honour and dignity. These evidences translate into what is perceived as the Unconventional or Unorthodox Concept of Development. It shows that re-democratisation as practised in Brazil through P.B is a working system that gives way to development.
REFERENCE
Celenna Souza. 2001. Participatory Budgetary in Brazilian Cities: Limit and Possibility in Building Democratic Institutions. Environmental and Urbanization Journal. Vol 133, no 1 p 159
Allegretti G., Falanga R. (2016) Women in Budgeting: A Critical Assessment of Participatory Budgeting Experiences. In: Ng C. (eds) Gender Responsive and Participatory Budgeting. Springer Briefs in Environment, Security, Development and Peace, vol 22. Springer, Cham pp 33-53
Sofela. B. 2016. Traditional Rulership in Contemporary Nigeria and Development Paradigm – The Gbagura Nation In Focus. Unpublished manuscript
Dickenson, John Philip, and Eakin, Marshall C. 2008 s”Brazil.” Microsoft® Encarta® 2009 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation,.
Brian Wampler, 2007 Participatory Budgeting in Brazil: Contestation, Cooperation, and Accountability. Available at google books
Deepti Bhatnagar and Animesh Rathore Participatory Budgetary in Brazil at the Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad) and Magüi Moreno Torres and Parameeta Kanungo at the World Bank (Washington DC).p.1 Retrieved on 16/12/2017 available at https://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTEMPOWERMENT/Resources/14657_Partic-Budg-Brazil-web.pdf
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