Participatory Budgeting: Could It Diminish Health Disparities in the United States?

AbstractParticipatory budgeting (PB) —a democratic process where ordinary residents decide directly how to spend part of a public budget—has gained impressive momentum in US municipalities, spreading from one pilot project in Chicago’s 49th ward in 2009 to 50 active PB processes across 14 cities in 2016–2017. Over 93,600 US res idents voted in a PB process in 2015–2016, deciding over a total of about $49.5 million and funding 264 projects intended to improve their communities. The vast majority of US PB processes take place in large urban centers (e.g., New York City, Chicago, Seattle, Boston), but PB has also recently s pread to some smaller cities and towns [1]. Figure1 illustrates the growth of PB processes in the USA, and within New York City and Chicago council districts specifically.Fig. 1Participatory budgeting in the USA has grown from 1 process in 2009 –2010 to 50 processes in 2016–2017PB constitutes a rare form of public engagement in that it typically comprises several distinct stages that encourage residents to participate from project idea collection to project implementation (see Fig.  2). The decisive public vote in US PB is practically binding as elected officials commit to implementing the public decision at the outset of the process. Moreover, all current PB processes in the USA have expanded voting rights to residents under 18  years old and to non-citizens. Under President Obama, the White House recognized PB as a model for open governance....
Source: Journal of Urban Health - Category: Health Management Source Type: research