Implementing bottlenecks and countermeasures of citizen participatory budgeting

Abstract

In recent years, technical problems was attached more importance in China's budget reform, such as zero-based budget and government procurement, however, how to deal with the relations between budget and democratic governance has been highlighted as a much deeper issue. In the Report to the seventeenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China has pointed out that we should unswervingly develop and expand socialist democracy, improve institutions for democracy, diversify democratic forms and widen democratic channels to guarantee the people's rights to participate and to oversee. To ensure scientific and democratic decision-making, we will improve its transparency and expand public participation in it. Under the guidance of the CPC Central Committee, some areas such as Wenling in Zhejiang province have already started Participatory Budgeting (PB) reform. This paper applies these early reality-based cases, i.e. combining the cases in China and America, in order to generalize the common forms, implementing procedures and operating bottlenecks of PB. On base of stating the cases, the essay applies theoretical analysis and comparative study to PB, to propose the countermeasures of those bottlenecks, as well as build a common model of PB. As a useful tool, the model would provide reference for reform of PB all over China, so as to improve the effectiveness of government operation, the use efficiency of financial funds as well as better our public financial system.