Can participatory budgeting help make public services really work for the public? Incorporating a range of experiments in ten different countries, this book provides the first comprehensive analysis of participatory budgeting in Europe and the effect it has had on democracy, the modernization of local government, social justice, gender mainstreaming and sustainable development. By focussing on the first decade of European participatory budgeting and analysing the results and the challenges affecting the agenda today it provides a critical appraisal of the participatory model. Detailed comparisons of European cases expose similarities and differences between political cultures and offer a strong empirical basis to discuss the theories of deliberative and participatory democracy and reveal contradictory tendencies between political systems, public administrations and democratic practices.

Can participatory budgeting help make public services really work for the public? Incorporating a range of experiments in ten different countries, this book provides the first comprehensive analysis of participatory budgeting in Europe and the effect it has had on democracy, the modernization of local government, social justice, gender mainstreaming and sustainable development. By focussing on the first decade of European participatory budgeting and analysing the results and the challenges affecting the agenda today it provides a critical appraisal of the participatory model. Detailed comparisons of European cases expose similarities and differences between political cultures and offer a strong empirical basis to discuss the theories of deliberative and participatory democracy and reveal contradictory tendencies between political systems, public administrations and democratic practices.

Citizens' participation, especially participatory budgeting, has spread in both Asia and Europe, and has been a symbol of democratic renewal. These transformations are already very visible in Europe, where more than 200 municipalities have adopted participatory budgeting. By contrast, in some Asian democracies, such as Japan or South Korea, it has considerably enlarged the agenda of citizen participation, integrating new forms such as taxpayers' budgets. In other countries, especially in China, participatory budgeting represents some adaptations of opening and transparency. With a global cast of authors, this study provides an overview of the impact of these devices, such as improving the modernisation of public administration or improving the contact between citizens and politicians, and documents the latest developments of citizen participation in both continents.

Dieses Buch ist das Ergebnis eines Forschungsprojektes am Berliner Centre Marc Bloch und der Humboldt-Universitat, das von der Hans-Bockler-Stiftung unter dem folgenden Titel finanziert wurde: Der Burgerhaushalt im euro- ischen Vergleich - Perspektiven und Chancen des kooperativen Staates auf kommunaler Ebene. Leiter der Forschung war Yves Sintomer; als wissenscha- liche Mitarbeiter waren Carsten Herzberg und Anja Rocke tatig. Die administ- tive Leitung hatten Hans-Peter-Muller von der Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin inne sowie bei der Hans-Bockler-Stiftung Volker Grunewald und Karsten Schneider. Folgende Personen waren Mitglied der internationalen Projektgr- pe: Belgien: Ludivine Damay und Christine Schaut (Zentrum fur Soziologie der Universitat Saint-Louis, Brussel); Spanien: Ernesto Ganuza Fernandez (Instituto de Estudios Sociales de Andalucia, Cordoba); Frankreich: Marion Ben-Hammo und Sandrine Geffroy (Universitat Paris 8), Julien Talpin (Universitat Paris 8); Grossbritannien: Jeremy Hall (PB Unit); Italien: Giovanni Allegretti als Koor- nator des italienischen Teams (Centro dos Estudos Sociais, Universitat Coi- ra), Pier Paolo Fanesi (Universitat Macerata), Lucilla Pezzetta (Universitat La Sapienza, Rom), Michelangelo Secchi (Staatliche Universitat Mailand), Antonio Putini (Universitat der Region Calabria), Paolo Filippi (Universitat Venedig); Niederlande: Hugo Swinnen (Verwey-Jonker Institut, Utrecht); Polen: El bieta Plaszczyk (School of Public Administration, Lodz), Dorota Dakowska (Univ- sitat Strassburg); Portugal: Luis Guerreiro (Stadtverwaltung Palmela), Giovanni Allegretti und Nelson Dias (Universitat Algarve). Ein Band mit Fallstudien und statistischen Vergleichsdaten wurde bereits im November 2005 veroffentlicht (www. buergerhaushalt-europa. de). Leser, die uber einzelne Beispiele mehr wissen wollen, konnen darin weitere Informat- nen finden."