Title: Beyond Theory: e-Participatory Budgeting and its Promises for eParticipation
Abstract: This paper concerns the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as a strategy for reinforcing democratic processes - broadly defined as “electronic democracy” practices - and focuses on the use of ICTs in participatory democracy initiatives. By considering the experience of the e-Participatory Budgeting (ePB) in the city of Belo Horizonte (Brazil), the aim is to understand some of the possible prospects and limitations offered by ICTs in participatory processes at the local level. Given that citizen participation in the process of allocation of budgetary resources is becoming increasingly common in Europe and elsewhere, the Belo Horizonte case should be of particular interest to practitioners and academics working in the domain of eParticipation. Considering the fact that the e-Participatory Budgeting took place in a city with 1.7 million electors and attained a level of participation of nearly 10%, the eParticipatory Budgeting of Belo Horizonte is, by any standards, one of the most significant initiatives in the world in the domain of eDemocracy and eParticipation to have been implemented so far. Among other findings, this paper argues that even though the use of ICTs was essential to the success of the initiative, other factors were also crucial in accomplishing such a level of participation, notably: i) the scope of the public works at stake; ii) the salience of the initiative and iii) citizens’ perception of their actual impact in the decision-making process. It is expected that the outcomes of this incipient research will contribute to the literature on electronic and participatory democracy, as well as provide a policy evaluation of the use of ICTs at the local level in a large-scale participatory initiative.
Publication Year: 2009
Publication Date: 2009-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 55
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