use case

The first, notable example of city-wide participatory budgeting

Considered the first example of large-scale participatory budgeting, the Porto Alegre experiment inspired many other participatory budgeting projects and continued for a long period. It is also considered to be a successful implementation, reaching its peak participation in 2002.

source of visual

Latin America, Porto Alegre, Brazil, Offline
- Where did this use case occur?
1989 - 2017
- When did this use case occur?
Government of Porto Alegre
- Who were some of the key collaborators
At its peak, the project had ~17,000 citizens participating in the participatory budgeting process. Over the decade of the project, the participatory budgeting process saw over 50,000 participants.
- How many people participated?
Municipality, Public, Urban
- What are some keywords?

What was the problem?

Brazilian political culture faced the challenges of corruption and clientelism in the late 1980s. There was a further need to strike a balance between the institutions of representative electoral democracy and the participation of the public in political decision-making.

How does the community approach the problem?

Participatory budgeting happens annually.

Process

Deliberative Democracy , Participatory Budgeting

Technique

Initially, accounts from the previous year are presented and the administration lays down its investment plan for the current year. The budgeting happens through three streams of meetings
• neighbourhood assemblies, thematic assemblies, and citywide coordinating sessions. Neighbourhood assemblies discuss the funding allocations for the 16 districts on the city government's responsibilities. The meetings are held in public spaces such as churches and are open to all. Each district gives rankings at the end of the deliberations and elects delegates who proceed to a council with the district’s suggestions. These rankings are for issues that affect their district specifically and for matters that concern the larger city. The delegates within the council convene once a week and serve for one year to allow as many people as possible the opportunity to participate. The council refines and applies the budget rules developed by the assemblies. Then, elected councillors accept or reject the budget.

Tool

No Specified Tools

What were the results?

• The participatory budgeting process in Porto Alegre is understood to have promoted the representation of earlier underrepresented sections of the society such as women, ethnic minorities, and low-income and low-education participants, helping shift funding to the poorest parts of the city.
• The process speaks to the redistributive capacity of participatory processes, especially by bringing those generally excluded into decision-making and guiding the effective allocation of resources.
• Additionally, sewer and water connections, housing units, and schools increased over the period. The health and education budget also increased over the period.

In Our Opinions

How participatory was it?

Empower

The residents of Porto Alegre had more say in the design and implementation of various initiatives, and the continued success of the initiative increased participation in the program. Additionally, reports have studied the effect of the participatory budgeting program on its residents.

What makes this Use Case unique?