More than just an experiment? Politicians arguments behind introducing participatory budgeting in Budapest

Abstract

As deliberative and participatory practices play a greater role in political decision-making of democratic political systems in many parts of the world, political parties must adapt to demands of an increasingly more cognitively mobilized citizenry. While there is a growing body of literature about the functioning of such procedures in different social and political contexts, little is known about politicians’ reasons behind introducing them. Based on qualitative data collected among Hungarian politicians, this paper brings evidence to empirically assess why local politicians introduced Participatory Budgeting in Budapest, Hungary. Our findings suggest that politicians accept theoretical arguments for promoting citizens’ participation, newly elected local politicians expect to increase their party’s local embeddedness by creating new contact opportunities and emphasize that the introduction of Participatory Budgeting is a ground for experimentation. The article ends with a discussion about arguments that are put forth in the literature on European Participatory Budgeting but missing from the views of politicians, and concludes by highlighting the risks of institutionalizing Participatory Budgeting.

Specifications of Participatory Budgeting in Visegrad Group States and Possible Implementations for Slovakia

“…However, in this case, they did not have the power to make proposals, as they voted on projects submitted by local authorities. The voting itself took place as a direct vote without online form available (Oross, Kiss, 2021). The pilot project became the initial impetus for the development of this tool, while another local part of Budapest District XXII applied a participatory budget in 2019.…”

Embedding digital participatory budgeting within local government: motivations, strategies and barriers faced

“…Normative perspectives correctly portray citizen involvement [12] or the attitudes of political leaders [21] as critical to the process. Here, we shift attention away from these two groups towards another crucial issue for embedding participatory methods and the digital tools, the local government workforce.…”