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

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta politica 2023-07, Vol.58 (3), p.552-572
Main Authors: Oross, Dániel, Kiss, Gabriella
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Budgets
Citizens
Comparative Politics
Debates
Decision making
Embeddedness
European Politics
Experiments
Original Article
Political parties
Political Science
Political Science and International Relations
Political Science and International Studies
Political systems
Politicians
Politics
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0001-6810
1741-1416
DOI:10.1057/s41269-021-00223-6