Budget Proposals Online

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Budget Proposals Online

Definition:

Budget proposals online provide access to proposed budget, tax, and spending proposals.

Summary:

Communicating the key content of proposed financial budgets to the public via interactive Internet tools. Communication is integrated into the decision making process and influences the actual budget allocation.

The process of budget allocation is organised very diversely across different regions of the world. Therefore, "Budget Proposals Online" follows different strategies. One common theme is that the interested public is invited to learn, discuss, and formulate opinions about forthcoming budgets. Internet tools provide opportunities to present information in a didactic way and to stimulate interactive discussions. Depending upon the design of the process, Internet tools can be used to formulate, prioritise, and vote on recommendations; as well as request feedback from decision makers. These possibilities clearly show that the goal of the dialogue must be agreed upon in advance. All degrees of involvement can be useful: from simple information to sophisticated direct democracy projects. Clear communication of project goals is crucial.

Rationale and Objectives:

What can you use the Feature for?

• Raise public understanding about difficult spending decisions
• Obtain useful advice from the public about savings potential
• Increase accountability of representative decisions
• Improve the level of participation of citizens

Why use it? (Compared to other options)

• Internet tools reach additional target groups that often do not participate in conventional ways
• Internet tools enable participants to gather information at their own pace. Therefore, interactive tools influence individual understanding more effectively than printed, static brochures
• Face-to-face meetings combined with Internet tools provide a lively and meaningful dialogue
• Online modelling tools provide a quick and simple way for members of the public to understand the consequences of their proposals, view a variety of allocations, and make informed decisions

Benefits - Describe the top benefits for each group

• All Users: transparency of the budget allocation process.
• Citizens: better information about the financial aspects of important local issues, also providing a fair chance for citizens to influence budget allocation.
• Councillors: materials that are prepared for the public also benefit councillors, as the use of plain language allows for better understanding of complex matters. Consequently, councillors can intervene more effectively. In addition, the dialogue with voters offers many opportunities to raise political capital.
• Local Administration: implementing measures of a participatory budget is much easier, even with unpopular projects, as citizens accept disadvantages if they are convinced that the decision making process is fairly executed.
• Others (list special audiences): taxpayers know where their money is allocated.

Limitations and Cautions

• Budget allocation is the central form of political power in any government. Proposals to reform the decision making process are likely to receive serious opposition. Therefore, it is crucial to convince the large majority of stakeholders that they can benefit from the new allocation process.
• When integrating public dialogue into the decision-making process, it is advisable to find solutions that fit into the local political culture. For example, in Brazil, giving direct decision making power to neighbourhood meeting groups is effective. In contrast, in Germany, final decisions regarding participatory budgets in the past are made by an elected council.

Successes ^{collected projects}

- Successful Implementations

• Example 1 Title: Porto Alegre Orçamento Participativo (Brazil)
  • Link: Project page (Portuguese)
    Online dialogue site (translated to English by Google)
  • The participatory budget of Porto Alegre is the oldest, on-going major project in this field. In the beginning, face-to-face workshops were the primary communication tool. However, currently Porto Alegre uses a combination of online and face-to-face instruments.
  • Contact Information: see Website

• Example 2 Title: Bürgerhaushalt Emsdetten (Participatory Budget Emsdetten, north-west Germany)
  • Link: project site (German)
  • Emsdetten is a German example where participants concentrated on online information, with less emphasis placed on online dialogue.
  • Contact Information: see Website

• Example 3 Title: Participative budget Issy-les Moulineaux, France:
  • Link: City portal
    Interview with project co-ordinator
  • Electronic mail has already shown that Budget Proposal Online requires increased reactivity and processing speed. It also allows for the population to be consulted more regularly on questions affecting local life. Using this tool, Issy-les Moulineaux launched two more initiatives in 2002:
    • The establishment of a Citizen Panel, which consists of a representative sample of 650 people who are regularly consulted on important issues via the Internet.
    • The establishment of a participatory budget at the level of district councils. Every year the district residents will be consulted in order to help the city council prioritise its investments. (Source: Buser 2003)
  • Contact Information: see Website

Further Information

Top Related "How to" Online Resources

From broader Internet community, not just government

• "Ein Leitfaden für die Praxis" and other publications of the project "Kommunaler Bürgerhaushalt" (German)
• Minnesota Public Radio Budget Balancer Project - This award winning project was described on the Batten Award journalism site:
  • This 19-page web exercise offered users 62 different cost-cutting and revenue-raising options to reduce the state's $4.2 billion budget deficit. MPR's Balancer set itself apart from similar projects through a colourful presentation filled with charts and special windows featuring informative "Headlines" and "Look Out!" warnings that added context to the process. Seven thousand participants submitted 11,000 budgets during the project's run of about two months. The project helped MPR attract a younger audience, one that usually does not listen to public radio. Forty-three percent of the participants were age 30 or younger. Responses helped to guide MPR's budget coverage to new topics.

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