PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING AS A FORM OF RESIDENTS’ CO-DECISION ON THE ALLOCATION OF LOCAL FUNDS: A CASE STUDY OF THE CITY OF PRZEMYŚL

Abstract

Participatory budgeting, also called civic budgeting, is a major instrument to facilitate engagement in local government affairs and foster social awareness among residents. It consists in involving residents in the allocation of a pool of public funds made available by local authorities. The purpose of this article is to assess the implementation of participatory budgeting in the city of Przemyśl, Podkarpackie Province, between 2013 and 2022. The assessment methods are desk research based on publicly available data, and interviews with city hall staff. The study confirms that the implementation of participatory budgeting made it possible to achieve the overarching goal of the project, which was to increase engagement by encouraging citizens to participate in public life and co-decide on the allocation of public funds.

Keywords

• participatory budgeting
• local government
• local funds
• citizen engagement
• city of przemyśl