Public Financing beyond participatory budgeting: The quantum budget

Abstract

The idea of so-called “Participatory Budgeting” (PB) has recently re-entered the modern political discourse. Major metropoles, such as New York, are making progress beyond mere piloting by paving the road for mandatory PB with new legislation, while communities of various sizes and politicians of various ranks all around the world aim to follow suit in an attempt to maintain an image of democratic progress. This paper shall scrutinize PB and provide a critique of PB from the perspective of democratic innovation. Another concept for increasing democratic power of citizens shall be described – the Quantum Budget. The Quantum Budget is an innovative way of funding communal projects that bases on Liquid Democracy. The paper will compare the Quantum Budget to Participatory Budgeting and provide a discussion on their potentials and weaknesses.