Participatory Budgeting: Direct Democracy in Action

Citizen expectations of government are rising across the globe as illustrated in the findings of a 2012 study of central government legislative bodies. The study found that “politicians are obliged to account publicly for their actions more regularly and routinely” than in the past (United Nations Development Programme and Inter-Parliamentary Union, 2012, p. 3) and that citizen demand for more accountable government is growing. At the same time that citizen expectations regarding government performance are rising, their level of trust in government is eroding. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), just 42 percent of residents of its member nations1 trust their governments (2017).