PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING: CHARACTERISTICS AND PARTICIPATORY QUALITY IN INSTITUTIONAL DESIGNS

Abstract

The research is framed within the evaluation of the participatory quality contained in the local participatory budget regulations developed in Spain. Participatory budgeting is an innovative tool for citizen participation that facilitates spaces for collective decision-making in budget administration. The work focuses on two objectives. Firstly, the construction of an operational framework of dimensions and indicators to measure the participatory quality designed in the participatory budget regulations through which to compare and understand their characteristics and institutional mechanisms. Secondly, to apply the framework to the processes initiated from 2015 to 2020 in municipalities located in Spain. The object of study is the regulation because it institutionalizes the rules, the relationships between agents and the conception of the model of local citizen participation. The research shows, firstly, that the construction of specific indicators to measure the participatory quality of participatory budget regulations allows for the comparison of a wide range of experiences in dimensions of special interest such as social inclusion, decision-making, institutional commitment, information flow, deliberation, and community capacity. The design of regulations is characterized by the configuration of participation models with low intensity, inclusiveness, and citizen influence. This situation of institutional mechanisms is contrary to the objectives of reforming relationships in new governance, political inclusion, and community development.