Research on the political impact of Participatory Budgeting processes
Governments increasingly combine deliberative and direct-democratic instruments to address democratic dissatisfaction and declining political trust. However, how the general public evaluates these hybrid democratic innovations in relation to their political support remains largely unexplored.
This study, by Jelle Turkenburg, called “In the Eye of the Beholder: Explaining the Effects of Local Participatory Budgeting on General Public Political Support” examines the mechanisms through which a hybrid form of participatory budgeting (PB) in Amsterdam influences public political support. In this hybrid PB model, large-scale public voting complements traditional small-scale deliberation in allocating public funds.
Through analysing interviews with participants, the author of this open access article in the Journal of Representative Democracy concludes “hybrid PB offers substantial yet conditional potential for enhancing public political support. To realise this potential, hybrid PB designs must address citizens’ diverse perceptions of relevance, demographic representation, and transparency explicitly. Such innovations should not be viewed as isolated interventions but embedded within broader socio-political contexts, requiring alignment with citizen expectations, past political experiences, and existing political attitudes. Understanding and addressing this complexity is crucial for policymakers aiming to rebuild and sustain public political support through hybrid PB.”
Access the full article on the website of the Journal of Representative Democracy, by Taylor and Francis Online