Learning to Be “Better Democrats”? The Role of Informal Practices in Brazilian Participatory Budgeting Experiences

Abstract

Participatory democracy, or the direct involvement of citizens in the democratic decision-making process, is an idea that has become increasingly important among both political theorists and practitioners. Two main positive outcomes have been associated with institutionalized participatory practices. First, some suggest that they increase policy efficiency and governmental effectiveness—or more broadly good governance. According to this view, citizens who are directly affected by policies are likely to not only have a better knowledge of local needs but also become invested in the projects to which they have contributed and become effective accountability agents (Ackerman 2003). Second, some political theorists argue that including citizens in the decision-making processes has the potential to widen the public sphere and empower ordinary people from traditionally excluded groups (Fung and Wright 2003; de Sousa Santos 2004; Dagnino, Olvera, and Panfichi 2006; Cornwall and Coelho 2007). As such, the Brazilian model of direct participation and deliberation over budgets and public spending through participatory budgeting (PB) institutions has often been cited as one of the most promising institutional innovations (de Sousa Santos 1998; Avritzer 2009; Abers 2000). It is a formal space created to give voice to the formerly excluded (Hirschman 1970), through which the inclusion of citizens in every step of the local democratic governance process is the most thorough, extending from decision-making to policy implementation and monitoring.