Democracy Reinvented: Participatory Budgeting and Civic Innovation in America

Community-Based Work and Participatory Budgeting

“…Redirecting funds away from the police toward health, for example, must be accompanied by serious community organization and political will. This new budgeting process, nonetheless, can help to build local skills, promote a sense of civic responsibility, and create the vision that communities can act in unison to deal with societal problems (Gilman, 2016). In this sense, a more expansive role for citizens may be revealed and internalized.…”

“…What becomes clear in the training is that the success of PB depends on local participation (Lerner, 2014;Gilman, 2016). In a community-based framework, however, participation is not simply equated with involvement, although joining a community forum and attending budget assemblies are expected.…”

Cities as Platforms for Population Health: Past, Present, and Future

“…Baby bonds, publicly funded investment accounts created by the government for newborns, are a specific example of an intervention to redress the racial wealth gap, and have already been enacted in Washington, DC, and Connecticut 105 . Such policies can be coupled with participatory budgeting so communities can help decide how public funds are allocated, increasing agency and directing dollars to what each individual community needs most 106 …”

Introduction: Participatory Budgeting as Community-Based Work

“…PB expands the position of local persons in social life. As they engage the budgeting process, and offer alternative proposals, a more intense sense of community is fostered (Gilman, 2016). And on the practical side, the budget priorities of municipalities may begin to change and reflect local needs and values.…”

“…Participatory budgeting projects progress through several stages that are built from the ground up and organized to foster inclusion (Gilman, 2016). Local participation is thus the centerpiece of this practice, whereas traditional planning models focus on professionals or high-level administrators and the knowledge that they bring to bear on an issue.…”