Public participation in participatory budgeting can take many different forms. The following core elements are involved, though:

• Citizens participate in planning the budget: the people affected take part in the process of working the budget out - the extent of participation varies between consultation and full-scale joint decision-taking.
• Public participation is institutionalized: defined structures are laid down for involving the public in planning the budget.
• Public funds are redistributed: the way money is to be spent is decided after the stakeholders taking part have jointly weighed up their various interests.
  
  

Aims

Participatory budgeting has three central aims:

• Transparency: citizens are informed about the current budget, and about those elements of budget planning that have already been determined. Making the process transparent also helps to prevent money being spent inefficiently or misdirectedly.
• Participation and/or joint decision-taking by the citizens in a field of central importance to society: communication between administrators, politicians and citizens is improved, and people are more aware of important administrative moves.
• Public spending is more closely aligned with the citizens’ interests: public participation aids administrators in deciding how to spend public money in line with actual needs, and budget priorities can be revised to make them fairer.
  

Benefits
... for citizens:

• Dialogue between citizens and authorities makes both sides more democracy-minded.
• Involving the public in planning the budget enhances their role as active, critical, demanding and responsible members of society.
• Citizens monitor how the decisions taken jointly are implemented. Making the administration accountable can contribute to modernizing it.
• Public participation leads to budget priorities being revised – which can result in an improved quality of life in a relatively short time.
• Participatory budgeting can contribute to social restructuring and to gains in social justice.
  

... for the local administration:

• With a more transparent budget, money is employed more efficiently and administrators reap more public recognition for their work
• Citizens support the budget decisions that they have been involved in taking.
• Democratic culture and social cohesion are both enhanced.
• When public funds are in short supply, public participation can lead to more general acceptance of the need for austerity measures.
• Cooperation between citizens, politicians and administrators can help to create an atmosphere of trust.