Questions/Answers

The Portugal Participatory Budget (PPB), which stands out as the first nationwide participatory budgeting of the world, is a democratic, direct and universal process that allows civil society to propose and vote on ideas for public investments in all governmental areas. The initiative is led by the Secretary of State Assistant and of Administrative Modernization and managed and operationalized by the Administrative Modernization Agency (AMA). The PPB has two main objectives: bringing people closer to politics and decision-making processes; and compelling citizens to present sustainable proposals regarding other cities/regions besides their own, thus fostering the establishment of collaborative networks between different municipalities and regions. The process of proposing ideas and vote for it makes people more aware of the political processes, their civic responsibilities and also the context of allocation of public resources, thus contributing to empowering the population. Additionally, populations traditionally not so heard, as the rural ones, are given an open channel to directly participate in the policy-making process, either through online channels or via nationwide face-to-face participatory meetings, thus allowing the participation of digital literates and illiterates alike. This hybrid participatory model fosters social inclusion and at the same time enhances trust in the public administration.

The PPB is innovative as the first participatory budget at a nationwide level, presenting a hybrid participatory model that combines face-to-face interactions with ICT tools specifically developed to ensure that everyone can fully participate in the democratic life of their country. By channeling public resources to projects presented and chosen directly by citizens, who are also entitled to follow up the implementation of their ideas, the PPB contributes to a more efficient, transparent, inclusive and accountable Public Administration, fostering Citizen's trust in the State as well as a culture of co-creation of public services across the Public Administration.

We believe that the PPB is relevant to the SDG # 16, given the projects’ sound contribution to build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. By allowing populations to present their real needs, the PPB promotes collaboration with public institutions and also a more efficient use of resources, since it enables the investment in proposals that respond to what citizens see as a priority. The adoption of a fully electronic voting system plus the fact that citizens have the opportunity to monitor the implementation of their proposals further concurs to the transparency and accountability of the PPB.

The PPB aims to challenge Portugal’s cultural lack of public participation in political life, and it was built upon the positive feedback gathered through local participatory budgeting initiatives. The evidence that Portuguese citizens effectively participate when asked what they wish for their cities encouraged the Government to experiment and adapt an already proven model, scaling it to a pioneering participatory budget at national level in order to inspire a nationwide participatory spirit and compel citizens to present proposals regarding other cities/regions besides their own, thus fostering an inclusive view of the country. In order to empower and give a voice to all Portuguese population, regardless of age, gender or geographical residence, we devised a hybrid participatory model that combines a strong presence on digital platforms with onsite Participatory Meetings where citizens can discuss their ideas with high-level political actors. By providing different channels of communication for every citizen, the PPB guarantees that everyone can participate despite their digital literacy level. Besides promoting equal opportunities for all segments of Portuguese population to exercise their civil rights, the PPB also responds to the need to promote territorial cohesion, by encouraging the establishment of both intraregional and interregional collaborative networks.

While there are many examples of participatory budgets at the local level, the PPB stands out as the world’s first nationwide participatory budget, demonstrating the Portuguese Public Administration will to deliver new ways of reaching and involving citizens in the discussion of ideas for the country. As such, this project encompasses a hybrid participatory model that combines face-to-face interactions between citizens and the State with ICT tools specifically developed to ensure the maximum engagement of citizens whether they are submitting a proposal online, searching or voting in a proposal already submitted or obtaining information about the next Participatory Meeting.

The PPB is original and innovative as the world’s first participatory budget at the national level, nonetheless this initiative was inspired and built upon the positive feedback acknowledged from previous experiences in several Portuguese municipalities. As such, the PPB represents an experiment and adaptation of an already proven model, scaling the growing local participatory budgeting initiatives to a pioneering nationwide participatory budgeting that fosters a participatory spirit and compels citizens to present proposals regarding other cities/regions besides their own, thus nurturing an inclusive view of the country.

Participatory budgets at the local level are already well-known initiatives, which can be easily used and replicated in several contexts, although with the necessary adaptations to specific contexts. The Portugal Participatory Budget has been recognized by several international forums and public service awards as a paradigm of innovation in citizen engagement and public participation, and many countries around the world have already expressed their interest in a possible reproduction of the PPB’s innovative model. As such, several foreign delegations have visited Portugal to better know the PPB, including, for instance, Thailand, South Korea, the Czech Republic, France and Brazil.

Financial resources are around 100K per edition, mostly covering marketing and merchandising materials (website, social networks, audio+video spots to be broadcasted at the national radio and television, a “branded” PPB bus that toured the country during the first edition and supported face-to-face Participatory Meetings, etc.). This is only possible because, on one hand, most of the HR allocated are in-house, dedicated AMA staff members that smoothly run the initiative and also because there’s a strong political support behind it. Also, the face-to-face Participatory Meetings allow to disseminate the initiative with a proximity approach, hence contributing for a stronger communication campaign.

The PPB represents a privileged platform for launching projects in various sectors of the Public Administration and the proposals most voted by citizens will have assured both the financing and the political commitment required for their implementation. The fact that the winning projects cover the whole Portuguese territory also ensure a constant communication and exposure of the PPB initiative, encouraging the population to participate in future editions and eventually to organize themselves in a collaborative way in order to present more structured proposals. On the other hand, the strong political support provided by the highest levels of government stands out as a determining factor concerning the sustainability of the PPB. The sustainability of the PPB is additionally foreshadowed by the overall success and longevity of local participatory budgeting experiences in Portugal, some of which have been carried out for a decade now. The fact that participatory budgets are becoming an international landmark of public policy for citizen engagement also adds to the successful positioning of the PPB as a privileged space for the exercise of democracy, favouring the emergence of similar initiatives at local and/or central political level.

Yes

The Administrative Modernization Agency, which is the public body responsible for managing and implementing the PPB (under the guidance and leadership provided by the Secretary of State Assistant and of Administrative Modernization), developed an impact assessment that addresses the 2017 and 2018 editions of the PPB, from a qualitative and quantitative perspective.

• Qualitative indicators: o (Expected) Impact on the Portuguese public participatory culture o (Expected) Impact on citizen’s trust towards the State o (Expected) Social impacts/benefits in light of the thematic areas addressed by the winning projects of 2017 and 2018 o (Expected) Impact on the development of collaborative networks between different regions. • Quantitative indicators: o Number of people involved in all phases of the PPB (both editions) o Number of ideas presented by citizens (both editions) o Number of projects put to vote (both editions) o Number of votes submitted by citizens (both editions)

Overall, the positive feedback on the two PPB editions already carried out give support to the implementation of a nationwide participatory budget as a feasible practice of participatory democracy, suggesting that Portuguese citizens from all regions are open and willing to participate in initiatives that allow them to contribute to the political decision-making processes. At the same time, the results indicate that people are prepared to think about their country as a whole, further validating the decision to launch this pioneering nationwide participatory budgeting

The PPB considers a diversified communication strategy to foster citizen participation, including a strong presence in digital platforms and a significant investment in merchandising (e.g., flyers; pens; flags) and radio and television spots, the latter played by public figures from areas such as sports, gastronomy, entertainment and politics. The communication campaign also included a roadshow that covered the whole national territory to involve the local communities and engage the citizens who are not accustomed to participate in this type of processes. Additionally, the face-to-face Participatory Meetings held to collect citizen’s proposals are hosted by public entities, generally city/parish councils and universities, that also actively disseminate the PPB in their networks of partners. Furthermore, some of these meetings are supported by Ignite Portugal, a cultural platform proficient in engaging people to present their ideas and entrepreneurial projects. The engagement of political stakeholders was ensured by the full commitment and constant support provided by high level actors such as the Minister of Presidency and of Administrative Modernization, the Secretary of State Assistant and of Administrative Modernization and the Prime-Minister himself, which proved to be decisive in ensuring both the involvement of ministries and local authorities and the general visibility of the PPB.

We highlight the following good practices: - Allocation of sufficient time and resources to publicize the initiative before its kick off, through a multichannel communication campaign; - Pairing PPB-like initiatives with other citizen-centred projects for a multiplying effect in promoting a culture of civic participation; - Teams must be highly motivated in order to engage citizens; - Establishing a technical workgroup at governmental level to efficiently analyze the proposals presented by citizens; - Permanent high-level political support is essential; - Considering project categories by regions, with non-competing financial allocations, is a good option for participatory budgets at the national level.