European inventory of
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Brun-Martos & Lapsley - Democracy, governmentality and transparency

Brun-Martos, M.I. & Lapsley, I. (2020). Democracy, governmentality and transparency: participatory budgeting in action. In Maria Francesca Sicilia and Ileana Steccolini (eds) Public Budgeting in Search for an Identity: State of the Art and Future Challenges, (102-117). Routledge. ISBN 9780367679651

This chapter examines initiatives in participatory budgeting (PB) in a city in the United Kingdom, a country which is a slow adopter of PB. While there are UK initiatives on PB, these are developmental. Nevertheless, this study underlines the potential of PB in an Anglo-Saxon context. The finance of local government and cities is notoriously opaque. PB has the potential to enhance both democratic accountability and effective city management through transparency. This study reveals a city which is profitably engaged with democratizing its budgetary activities and seeking to achieve greater transparency for its citizens and managers through the modernization of established practice.

Brun-Martos & Lapsley “Democracy, governmentality and transparency: participatory budgeting in action“