What are the driving factors for implementing participatory budgeting? A case study from Czechia

Abstract

This paper builds on an intensive and unique survey of all Czech municipalities (n = 6,258) regarding the geoparticipatory spatial tools used in the decision-making processes of local administrations and the Index of Geoparticipation derived from the dataset. Furthermore, we have collected and analysed data regarding 238 participatory budgeting events in the Czech Republic from the years 2012–2020. This paper is divided into two sections. We investigate the relationships among the municipalities’ membership in the Healthy Cities of the Czech Republic network (HCCZ), as well as the municipalities’ levels of indebtedness and their performances in the Index of Geoparticipation and their usage of participatory budgeting. Our primary theory states that membership in HCCZ and higher values in the Index of Geoparticipation will support the use of participatory budgeting, while indebtedness will discourage municipalities from implementing participatory budgeting. We deepen the knowledge of participatory budgeting in the Czech Republic, while focusing on the qualitative analysis of projects that have been approved and implemented through the tool of participatory budgeting at the municipal level. Additionally, we examine what type of projects the funds are allocated to and how the characteristics of these projects change over time.