Multi-channel Participatory Budgeting

Acronym of the case:

MTCP

Web address of the case:

http://www.opa.ipatinga.mg.gov.br

Country of the case:

Central and South America

City/region:

Ipatinga - Minas Gerais (Brazil)

Posting Date:

25 January 2008

Last Edited Date:

01 February 2008

Author:

Tiago Peixoto (European University Institute (EUI))

budgeting | community | municipal

Type of initiative

Project or service
Promotion/awareness campaign

Case Abstract

Participatory Budgeting (PB) - where citizens participate in the decision-making process of budget allocation - has been considered as one of the main innovations that aim to reinforce accountability at local and regional level. Since 2001, the city of Ipatinga (Brazil) has used the Internet as a supplementary means for citizens to indicate public works that they wish to see submitted to vote at PB (in loco) meetings, whereas prior to 2001 community leaders collected written indications from citizens during neighbourhood gatherings. In 2005, supported by an intense media campaign (TV, radio, newspapers), the city administration launched a pioneering experiment in four of its nine districts using mobile and telephony in its PB as a supplementary information and consultation tool. The results of this experience provides practitioners with empirically grounded policy-lessons in multi-channel eDemocracy.

Description of the case

Domain

eGovernment

Topic

Regional and Local | eParticipation, eDemocracy and eVoting

Sector

Local/Regional Community Development | Social Services

Start date - End date

March 2005 (Ongoing)

Date operational

June 2005

Target Users

Civil society

Target Users Description

Scope

Local (city or municipality)

Status

Operation

Language(s)

Portuguese

Policy Context and Legal Framework

Project Size and Implementation

Type of initiative

Participation

Overall Implementation approach

Public administration

Technology choice

Not applicable/not available

Funding source

Public funding local

Project size

Implementation: Not applicable/not available

Yearly cost:

€1-49,000

Implementation and Management Approach

Supported by an intense communication campaign (mailing lists, TV, radio, newspapers), the city administration launched a pioneering experiment in four of its nine districts using telephony in its PB as a supplementary information and consultation tool. In this respect, in the participant districts:
- A free phone number was provided which citizens could call in order to specify their preferences regarding the allocation of the local budget.
- Mobile telephony was also used, with SMS messages sent to citizens encouraging them to participate in the process by indicating their preferences and by attending the meetings
- An automated system of phone calls was deployed, with calls to citizensâ€™ landlines with a recorded voice message from the mayor inviting citizens to the PB meetings, followed by an indication of the date and location (specific to each district) of the assembly.

Impact, innovation and results

Impact

A survey was carried out amongst citizens who attended the Participatory Budgeting district meetings. Presented below are some of the results:
- The majority of citizens (52.8%) still indicated their budget allocations preferences through written forms.
- Nearly half (47.2%) of the preferences indications came through the Internet (38.2%) or the free phone number (9%).
- Compared to the previous years, in the districts where the experiment did not take place a decline in participation of 16.1% was identified, whereas in the districts where the experiment took place participation increased by 14.7%.
- Nearly half (48.2%) of those who attended the meetings and who had previously indicated public works to be submitted to vote had done so either via the Internet or the free phone number.
- Over 50% of those who attended the meetings declared that the telephone calls they received with a recorded voice message from the mayor was the means of communication that most motivated them to attend the meetings.

Lessons learnt

Lesson 1 - In participatory initiatives, ICTs should be seen as a complementary means to enhance participation, without replacing existing practices (e.g. written forms for indication of preferences).

Lesson 2 - Information: multi-channel approach increases citizens' awareness about the opportunities for involvement (e.g. automated system of phone calls, mailing and radio announcements).

Lesson 3 - Participation: multi-channel approach tends to decrease the cost of participation to citizens who wish to participate (e.g. free number for indicating preferences, Internet)

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