{"id":5157,"date":"2014-06-05T07:45:41","date_gmt":"2014-06-05T07:45:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/?p=5157"},"modified":"2016-10-21T11:00:38","modified_gmt":"2016-10-21T11:00:38","slug":"an-introduction-to-participatory-budgeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/an-introduction-to-participatory-budgeting\/","title":{"rendered":"An introduction to participatory budgeting"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"An<\/a>

An introduction to participatory budgeting<\/p><\/div>\n

This is the first chapter of our 2014 Paper\u00a0<\/em>The Mayors, the booklovers, and the citizens: participatory budgeting in Yaounde, Cameroon<\/a>. <\/em>It\u00a0examines how citizens, local mayors and a society of booklovers collaborated to establish participatory budgeting in Yaound\u00e9, despite the weakness of democracy and absence of traditions of participation or public service in Cameroon.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In August 2012, neighbourhood meetings were taking place in three of the seven municipalities in Yaound\u00e9, Cameroon\u2019s capital city. In some locations, a new initiative to boost attendance by sending SMS reminders to 50,000 residents appeared to have been successful. While the turnout at most meetings could be counted in tens, not thousands, very few were cancelled due to a lack of interest.<\/p>\n

The purpose of the meetings was for residents to debate what basic infrastructure projects their neighbourhoods needed and to agree on the most pressing priorities. The projects selected by vote would subsequently be presented to the mayor by elected neighbourhood representatives. The meetings I witnessed were animated and mediated fairly and competently by a trained external moderator. Majority decisions were accepted with apparent equanimity by those whose proposals had not proved\u00a0most popular. Final decision-making would be in the hands of the mayor at a competitive public forum.\u00a0There were insuf\ufb01cient funds available to \ufb01nance all proposals in any of the municipalities.<\/p>\n

Participatory budgeting (PB) involves local authorities and the inhabitants of a municipality, or some\u00a0other administrative unit, co-operating in determining the allocation of public money. Its objective\u00a0is to provide an opportunity for citizens to influence decisions about the provision of services and\u00a0where they will be located. The proportion of the total municipal budget made available through PB\u00a0for discretionary expenditure on small public works is typically 2\u201310%. But the will to improve basic\u00a0services and infrastructure in poor, marginalised neighbourhoods is generally regarded as being\u00a0more important than the sum of money available.<\/p>\n

Read the whole paper The book lovers, the mayors, and the citizens: participatory budgeting in Yaounde, Cameroon<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Projects selected by communities might include wells and standpipes, sanitation and sewerage works, street lighting, paving and roads, or housing. An important principle of PB is that communities must themselves contribute \u2013 in cash, manpower, materials or land \u2013 in order to promote a sense of ownership of any new assets. Construction or implementation of projects should be a joint, monitored endeavour involving neighbourhood representatives and the municipality. If PB is to yield demonstrable bene\ufb01ts and prove sustainable, commitment and trust on the part of all participants are indispensable.<\/p>\n

For Jules Dumas Nguebou, co-ordinator of programmes at ASSOAL<\/em><\/a>, the leading civil society organisation promoting the adoption of PB in Cameroon, its potential is considerable:<\/p>\n

The introduction of PB in Cameroon, although in its infancy, has allowed for the participation of citizens in\u00a0decision-making processes which fundamentally affect their lives. It has brought tangible, if modest, improvements. PB can help municipal authorities to engage with the population \u2013 the voters \u2013 and provide\u00a0important feedback about development projects and programmes. In instances where this has been effective,\u00a0PB has contributed to a reduction in corruption in local government.<\/p>\n

At the local level, it is easier to bring concrete change to the lives of citizens, easier to have some real impact on\u00a0local administration and against local corruption, and easier to organise social services to the poor. In a country\u00a0with a political framework like that of Cameroon, a local approach is a much more effective way of pursuing\u00a0important socio-economic goals and reducing poverty.<\/p>\n

PB is essentially governance for poverty reduction. It can also help to foster democracy \u2013 most importantly in\u00a0countries that are, or have been, dictatorships. It gives people the opportunity to participate in administration and\u00a0press for local developments which will improve their lives, including better access to basic services and housing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For progressive local government leaders, PB offers an opportunity to increase the impact of very\u00a0limited \ufb01nancial resources by aligning policymaking with local needs. Yvette Claudine Ngono, Mayor\u00a0of Yaound\u00e9 V, one of the capital\u2019s seven municipalities, explains why this prompted her to adopt PB:<\/p>\n

We launched PB in Yaound\u00e9 V in June 2012. PB empowers local government to do more \u2013 and to do what people\u00a0want. We have undertaken to allocate 10\u201315% of the total municipal budget to PB. As it involves working with\u00a0all neighbourhoods in the municipality on equal terms we hope to avoid being accused of favouritism. Of course\u00a0there will be some suspicions about what we are up to.<\/p>\n

Before the introduction of PB, the mayor\u2019s office used to take all decisions regarding the implementation of projects in\u00a0a particular neighbourhood. People were not so happy with that. They felt that their priorities were not taken into account.\u00a0For example, the town hall might build a new road when the top priority for the residents was a new water point.<\/p>\n

The best way to make people more satisfied with local government is to involve them in the budget. We had to\u00a0find a way to ensure that residents came together, discussed their problems and chose their own development\u00a0priorities which were then presented to the mayor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

If residents are involved in identifying development priorities and solutions, they are likely to be more involved\u00a0in ensuring that a project is carried out properly. When plans for a new road or water point are agreed, local\u00a0people are able to say, \u201cthat\u2019s our project, we don\u2019t want it to fail or be put in the wrong place\u201d. The mayor\u2019s\u00a0office also benefits from knowing that money has been channelled to meet the requirements of the community,\u00a0not just for the benefit of a few.<\/p>\n

PB represents a new social contract between the municipality and the population. It aims to place the aspirations\u00a0of citizens at the forefront of local development.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Although PB is most commonly associated with Brazil and other South American countries, the process\u00a0had been practised in as many as 1,500 states, cities, towns and rural municipalities worldwide by\u00a02010 (1).\u00a0It has been depicted as a shining example of the merits of \u201cgrassroots democracy\u201d involving\u00a0a mobilisation of citizens which can be replicated for other purposes \u2013 for example, to resist eviction.\u00a0It has also been hailed as \u201cone of the most signi\ufb01cant innovations for increasing citizen participation\u00a0and local government accountability\u201d (2).<\/p>\n

Caution is required when confronted by the bolder claims. There are plenty of documented examples\u00a0of PB delivering basic infrastructure to poor neighbourhoods which would certainly not have secured\u00a0these essential improvements through any other means, as in Cameroon. There is also evidence of PB\u00a0helping to improve \ufb01nancial management, the image of local administration and revenue collection.\u00a0But PB is not a developmental \u201csilver bullet\u201d which lends itself to easy distillation in a blueprint.<\/p>\n

\"Click<\/a>

The process of participatory budgeting in Yaounde<\/p><\/div>\n

The PB process and outcomes differ location by location. This is inevitable given a plethora of variables,\u00a0including the motives and objectives of the individuals and groups involved, the degree of participation\u00a0and the extent to which it is genuinely collaborative, the scope of the projects or measures under\u00a0discussion and the available resources. Literacy levels and history can be equally influential. While\u00a0certain fundamental principles are typically observed in examples of PB deemed successful, their\u00a0adoption does not guarantee \u201csuccess\u201d. Even in Brazil, the birthplace of PB, its record is not unalloyed\u00a0\u2013 although the positive developmental outcomes secured by PB in that country are arguably unrivalled.<\/p>\n

Civil society organisations have led the introduction of PB to Cameroon. It has been no easy task. \u00a0As Achille Noupeou of ASSOAL says in this paper, \u201cdemocracy in Cameroon is weak and there is no tradition of participation\u201d. Mayors have for the most part been reticent or obstructive. Implementation of projects is often fraught with dif\ufb01culty. But after a decade of considerable effort on the part of its proponents inside the country and elsewhere, the process appears to be \ufb01rmly established.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
Sources and References<\/div>\n
\n

1. See Sintomer, Yves et al., Learning from the South: Participatory Budgeting Worldwide \u2013 An Invitation to Global Cooperation,
\ninWEnt gGmbH\/ Service Agency\/giz, Dialog Global No. 25, Dec. 2010, p.9: an estimate of 795\u20131,469 examples of PB worldwide<\/p>\n

2. Souza, Celina, \u201cParticipatory budgeting in Brazilian cities: limits and possibilities in building democratic institutions\u201d,
\nEnvironment and Urbanization, Vol.13\/1 (2001), p.159<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This introduction to participatory budgeting examines how citizens, local mayors and a society of booklovers collaborated to establish the initiative in Yaound\u00e9 despite the weakness of democracy in the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":5297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[515,516,72,278,518,526,521,522,523],"class_list":["post-5157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-assoal","tag-cameroon","tag-cities","tag-democracy-in-africa","tag-governance","tag-local-government","tag-participatory-budgeting","tag-transparency","tag-yaounde"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nAn introduction to participatory budgeting - 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