Governance, Accountability and Participatory Budget between Myth and Reality. The Italian Case

Abstract

This paper explores the implications of participatory budget (PB), inspired by insights and reflections on public governance, accountability, participation and inclusion of citizens in the local authority expenditure decisions. Nevertheless a certain criticism is coming from the literature about the experience of participatory budget in the western countries experiences the paper shows how in Italy a positive impact of the PB implementation on the management culture of the local government drive toward its continuity. In particular it focuses on the characteristics of the context in which PB is getting started, the way by which it is realized, the most common type of intervention and, finally, the criticalities in the units of analysis. The conclusions give way to considerations on actions still required to promote PB, so that it can really be seen as a tool for improving accountability.