RATIONALES AND BARRIERS TO CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN PUBLIC BUDGETING: A systematic literature review

Abstract

Abstract: This study conducts a systematic literature review on citizen participation in public budgeting, focusing on understanding the rationales of participatory initiatives and the barriers to promoting significant change in public policies. It scrutinizes the data with a mixed-methods approach that involves conducting bibliometric and content analyses and develops analytical propositions to support future studies. The two main rationales of participatory mechanisms - political-electoral and good governance - are highlighted, and the barriers to effective citizen participation are discussed. Our findings suggest that to develop participatory innovations it is necessary to consider not only citizens’ capacities to understand public budgeting but also states’ capacities to speak citizens’ language and consider their voices. Future research may benefit from incorporating perspectives from the education field and from integrating technical and political views on public budgeting.