Participatory Budgeting in Brazil: Contestation, Cooperation, and Accountability [Paperback]

Brian Wampler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 17, 2009

As Brazil and other countries in Latin America turned away from their authoritarian past and began the transition to democracy in the 1980s and 1990s, interest in developing new institutions to bring the benefits of democracy to the citizens in the lower socioeconomic strata intensified, and a number of experiments were undertaken. Perhaps the one receiving the most attention has been Participatory Budgeting (PB), first launched in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre in 1989 by a coalition of civil society activists and Workers Party officials. PB quickly spread to more than 250 other municipalities in the country, and it has since been adopted in more than twenty countries worldwide. Most of the scholarly literature has focused on the successful case of Porto Alegre and has neglected to analyze how it fared elsewhere. In this first rigorous comparative study of the phenomenon, Brian Wampler draws evidence from eight municipalities in Brazil to show the varying degrees of success and failure PB has experienced. He identifies why some PB programs have done better than others in achieving the twin goals of ensuring governmental accountability and empowering citizenship rights for the poor residents of these cities in the quest for greater social justice and a well-functioning democracy. Conducting extensive interviews, applying a survey to 650 PB delegates, doing detailed analysis of budgets, and engaging in participant observation, Wampler finds that the three most important factors explaining the variation are the incentives for mayoral administrations to delegate authority, the way civil society organizations and citizens respond to the new institutions, and the particular rule structure that is used to delegate authority to citizens.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Wampler provides a compelling and original analysis of the democratic experiment known as participatory budgeting (PB). Drawing on field research undertaken in eight Brazilian municipalities, Wampler has developed a new framework for explaining why PB sometimes fails, sometimes succeeds, and sometimes yields mixed results. The author shows why enthusiasts should be cautious in their efforts to transfer PB to other contexts. This book will appeal to a broad audience of scholars and practitioners. --Eliza Willis, Grinnell College

With its comparative analysis of eight cases of participatory budgeting (PB) in Brazil, varying from success to failure, Wampler s book is a significant contribution to a literature heretofore dominated by single-case or two-case analyses (usually of only successful cases). His argument that divergent outcomes can be explained by analyzing political strategies of PB implementors and organized civil society participants within the real-world constraints of divergent local politics is helpful in avoiding one design fits all conclusions. --William Nylen, Stetson University

An essential text for the curious and discerning reader of one of the most important current innovations in Latin American democracy. . . . The text offers rich contributions to our conceptual understanding of state-society relations, exploring the nature of contestation and cooperation within PB, and the carefully constructed comparisons of observations in eight different municipalities within Brazil offer systematic explanations for PB outcomes. The lessons Wampler draws from his comparisons will be useful to those interested in the public policy of participation, an element that both developed and developing democracies have struggled with over the years. The text also offers valuable new details on well-known cases, such as Porto Alegre, the original home of PB, as well as explanations and observations of less well-known cases that turned out poorly, such as Blumenau. --Aaron Schneider, Journal of Latin American Studies

From the Publisher

"With its comparative analysis of eight cases of participatory budgeting (PB) in Brazil, varying from success to failure, Wampler's book is a significant contribution to a literature heretofore dominated by single-case or two-case analyses (usually of only successful cases). His argument that divergent outcomes can be explained by analyzing political strategies of PB implementors and organized civil society participants within the real-world constraints of divergent local politics is helpful in avoiding `one design fits all' conclusions."--William Nylen, Stetson University

"Wampler provides a compelling and original analysis of the democratic experiment known as participatory budgeting (PB). Drawing on field research undertaken in eight Brazilian municipalities,Wampler has developed a new framework for explaining why PB sometimes fails, sometimes succeeds, and sometimes yields mixed results. The author shows why enthusiasts should be cautious in their efforts to transfer PB to other contexts. This book will appeal to a broad audience of scholars and practitioners."--Eliza Willis, Grinnell College --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: Pennsylvania State Univ Pr (July 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0271032537
• ISBN-13: 978-0271032535
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,450,545 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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