Children and participatory budgeting in Portugal: Redefinition of citizenship and of citizenship education

Abstract

Children’s participation in Participatory Budgeting (PB) shows us children as social actors involved in local political action and in a process for citizenship education. PB is a process of shared management by local councils, who participate in the elected local government bodies, and people, individually and/or through civil society associations. It is one of several instruments of participatory democracy and it takes different forms. PB realizes a relationship between representative democracy and participatory democracy and one of the objectives of local government is to make government more transparent, more socially just and politically closer to citizens. Moreover, it seeks the inclusion of social groups, such as children, that remain outside traditional forums for discussion and decision-making. Participatory Budgets of Children and Youth (PBCY) are innovative social processes that aim to: 1) involve children in practices of citizen participation, including issues related to living space; and 2) promote and institutionalize children's participation in the political and the symbolic. It also encourages the civic participation and recognizes the role and importance of children as citizens, since PB is considered an effective area for the practice of citizenship, participation and the monitoring of public policies. This paper aims to characterize the PBCY Carnide Parish Council (Lisbon) from a sociological framework. The approach will focus on the relationship between the parish council and the community, deeming the local level most favourable to promoting children’s participation and citizenship.