Your Community, Your Choice: Participatory Budgeting in North Wales
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.
By Karen Osborne
April 10, 2019
Participatory budgeting was established in Porto
Alegre, Brazil in 1989, as the country was shifting from a dictatorship to a democracy.
Since then, participatory
budgeting has established itself as a leading democratic innovation, which
gives the floor to those who previously had been outsiders in the political
system. This
deliberate process creates
greater accountability by giving a voice to citizens in public decision making.
As a result, participatory
budgeting has become popular even in rural areas, such as North Wales, where this
method remains a relatively new and unexplored practice.
In 2013, North Wales developed a program
called Your Community, Your Choice. The program uses the deliberative method of
participatory budgeting to redistribute monetary funds seized from criminals in
the local area, which is allowable under the Proceeds of Crime Act. The funds
are targeted towards three key objectives: crime prevention initiatives,
developing educational programs that deter young people from committing crimes
and providing community groups with monetary funds to support the development of
their county. Since the program’s inception, North Wales has invested over
£160,000 into the local community.
To receive funding, participants must submit
an application to their county panel. The questionnaire seeks to understand the
services that the group requires funding for, how their initiative supports the
current police and crime plan relative to the local community and the
strategies for monitoring and evaluating a project if funding is received. There
are a series of deliberative processes that take place before making a final
decision including: numerous county panel meetings, notification to applicants
of panel decision, a public internet voting period and finally, the
announcement of the result. The internet voting period directly engages the
public and allows the community to have a distinct role in the decision-making
process of who receives funding.
A
plethora of theorists have argued that the best way to improve a democracy is
to practice it. The deliberative methods used in North Wales could be
used on a wider scale to develop and foster the very qualities necessary for political
competence. As more individuals participate, this will
positively impact the political culture. Ultimately, public
participation creates a space for the citizens within a community to develop their
civic identities, where they are able to cut
their political teeth.
To learn more about this case and its methods, you can read the entire case here. To read about other innovative applications of public participation, visit www.participedia.net.
Author:Karen Osborne is a master’s student of public administration at Syracuse University and a graduate assistant for the Participedia Project at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Her academic focus includes nonprofit organizational management and collaborative governance. As a McLane and Sherwood Scholar, Karen plans to invest her career in community development.
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Your Community, Your Choice: Participatory Budgeting in North Wales
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.
By Karen Osborne
April 10, 2019
Participatory budgeting was established in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 1989, as the country was shifting from a dictatorship to a democracy. Since then, participatory budgeting has established itself as a leading democratic innovation, which gives the floor to those who previously had been outsiders in the political system. This deliberate process creates greater accountability by giving a voice to citizens in public decision making. As a result, participatory budgeting has become popular even in rural areas, such as North Wales, where this method remains a relatively new and unexplored practice.
In 2013, North Wales developed a program called Your Community, Your Choice. The program uses the deliberative method of participatory budgeting to redistribute monetary funds seized from criminals in the local area, which is allowable under the Proceeds of Crime Act. The funds are targeted towards three key objectives: crime prevention initiatives, developing educational programs that deter young people from committing crimes and providing community groups with monetary funds to support the development of their county. Since the program’s inception, North Wales has invested over £160,000 into the local community.
To receive funding, participants must submit an application to their county panel. The questionnaire seeks to understand the services that the group requires funding for, how their initiative supports the current police and crime plan relative to the local community and the strategies for monitoring and evaluating a project if funding is received. There are a series of deliberative processes that take place before making a final decision including: numerous county panel meetings, notification to applicants of panel decision, a public internet voting period and finally, the announcement of the result. The internet voting period directly engages the public and allows the community to have a distinct role in the decision-making process of who receives funding.
A plethora of theorists have argued that the best way to improve a democracy is to practice it. The deliberative methods used in North Wales could be used on a wider scale to develop and foster the very qualities necessary for political competence. As more individuals participate, this will positively impact the political culture. Ultimately, public participation creates a space for the citizens within a community to develop their civic identities, where they are able to cut their political teeth.
To learn more about this case and its methods, you can read the entire case here. To read about other innovative applications of public participation, visit www.participedia.net.
Author:Karen Osborne is a master’s student of public administration at Syracuse University and a graduate assistant for the Participedia Project at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Her academic focus includes nonprofit organizational management and collaborative governance. As a McLane and Sherwood Scholar, Karen plans to invest her career in community development.
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