The spread of participatory budgeting: Procedural diversity, municipal context, and electoral drivers in the Belgian context
研究了比利时瓦隆和布鲁塞尔地区参与式预算的实施情况，发现其已成为广泛传播的制度实践，但不同市政背景和意识形态下实施方式存在差异，部分案例中参与式修辞仅用于重新包装旧有做法。
Public participation is a popular mantra in contemporary governance. Participatory mechanisms have been analysed extensively. The systematic study of how, where and why public authorities implement them is, however, under researched. The paper aims to fill this gap by focusing on participatory budgeting (PB) processes in the Belgian context (Wallonia and Brussels). First, we critically assess the ‘participatory’ feature of PB by comparing who decides in such processes. Second, we identify the contextual and political factors that trigger the establishment of PB. Findings suggest that PB has become a widely diffused institutional practice for authorities with different ideological orientations and across different municipal contexts. However, the way the participatory ideal is put into practice reveals distinct dynamics. In some cases, the use of the participatory rhetoric is a way to requalify an old practice without significantly transforming how the budget is allocated. Overall, this study seeks to offer a better understanding of the integration of democratic innovations in contemporary governance. Points for practitioners The paper unveils the diversity of practice behind the label ‘participatory budgeting’. It provides a new typology of PB processes by focusing on the decision phase. It offers a systematic study of PB establishment in the Belgian context by analysing the role of municipal context, ideology and the electoral drivers.