The Participatory Budget Porto Alegre

1
The Participatory Budget Porto Alegre

• Participatory governance

2
Quest-ce que la gouvernance?

• Changement de paradigme
• Passage du gouvernement à la gouvernance
• Laction publique nest plus le monopole exclusif
  de lÉtat
• Interpelle plusieurs acteurs dont lÉtat, le
  secteur privé, la société civile

3
Brésil

• Territoire 8 511 965 km2
• Population 165, 9 millions de personnes (1998)
• Groupes ethniques
• 55 de Blancs (Portugais, Allemeands, Italiens,
  Espagnols, Polonais)
• 38 de Métisses
• 6 de Noirs
• 1 autres (Japonais, Arabes, Arméniens)

4
(No Transcript)
5
Brazil A Historical Context

• Portuguese colonization
• 1822 Declaration of independence
• 1964-1985 Period of dictatorship
• 1985 to present democratic transition
• 1988 New constitution adopted.
• Establishment of a process of decentralizing the
  central government to local governments.

6
An Urbanized Society

• Urbanization rate
• 75 to 80 of the population lives in 5,000
  municipalities
• 47 of the total population lives in 14 cities,
  each of which contains over one million
  inhabitants

7
Socio-Economic Duality

• Gross interior product per inhabitant 6,480

8
Moving towards democracy

• 1989 New constitution adopted
• The role of civil society is recognized and is
  guaranteed participation in
• Institutional reform
• Decentralization process granting more power to
  municipalities

9
Nouvelle constitution

• Structure gouvernementale à trois paliers
• Gouvernement fédéral
• 26 États et un district fédéral
• 1 500 municipalités
• Les municipalités ne sont pas soumises à
  lautorité des États en ce qui concerne les
  affaires relevant de leurs domaines de
  juridiction.

10
Constitution

• To favour forms of democratic participation other
  than elections, and to recognize community
  organizations as legitimate players in
  governance.
• To grant the power to municipalities to adopt
  their own by-laws, the structures they choose,
  and institutional forms of community
  participation suited to the local situation.
  Socio-spatial duality.

11
Decentralization

• Giving more responsibilities to the
  municipalities (health, education, planning)
• Granting more legislative, executive and
  financial autonomy
• Introducing fiscal reform to distribute revenues
  throughout government levels and the regions.

12
Fiscal reforms

• First part determine the amount of income from
  the two main federal government taxes, including
  income tax and the tax on industrial products,
  which will be distributed among the States and
  the municipalities.
• Second part added value tax which the federal
  government shares with the municipalities
  according to what falls within their
  jurisdiction.

13
Porto Alegre, city of social innovation

• Rio Grande do Sul the state with 7 of the
  countrys total population
• Characteristics of the States economy
• Service sector (56 of the Gross National
  Product)
• Industrial sector (35 of the GNP)
• Agricultural sector (6 of the GNP)

• Population of the metropolitan region of Porto
  Alegre (consisting of 24 municipalities) 3.3
  million people, including 41.65 of the States
  population
• Citys population 1.3 million people
• Regional capitals role
• Commercial and services centre

14
(No Transcript)
15
(No Transcript)
16
Porto Alegre, Rio Grande Do Suls Metropolis

• 200,000 inhabitants live in unregulated zones and
  do not have access to urban equipment and
  infrastructures

17
(No Transcript)
18
The Participatory Budgets Origins

• Inception in 1989
• The urban movement asks for change
• The will to participate in urban planning and
  management

19
Exercising Participatory Democracy

• The process of popular participation
• Allowing citizens to take part in elaborating the
  municipal budget where investments are concerned
• Allowing residents to determine the distribution
  criteria of resources and investment priority of
  the municipality

20
Model for urban governance

• A direct and popular participatory structure
  emphasizes cooperation and a partnership between
  the local government and civil society

21
Structure

• District
• Borough
• City

• Regional assembly
• District meeting
• Regional and thematic forums
• City Council for the participatory budget

22
Participatory Budgets Council

• Regional forum delegates (32)
• Thematic forum delegates (10)
• Municipal employees collective (1)
• Collective of neighbourhood associations
• Elected members of the executive committee who
  cannot vote (2)

23
Approach

• Inhabitants establish their investment priorities
  by sector.
• They do not discuss figures, but rather needs and
  projects.
• This exercise will be translated into an
  investment and budget plan.
• The plan will be presented to the City Council.

24
The method of a fair distribution of revenue

• The regions deficiencies in infrastructure
• Priority given to each regions infrastructure
  category
• Number of residents living in zones with the
  greatest deficiencies
• The regions total population

25
Methods of encouraging participation

• Training provided on how to run a meeting
• Basic courses offered to delegates (for example
  law, management and finance)
• Publishing a newsletter
• Paying transportation costs
• Providing child care
• The cost of providing a participatory budget
  400,000 USD.

26
Required Conditions

• The will on the part of elected officials to
  share part of their power
• The adoption of fiscal reforms giving the power
  to the municipality to increase its revenues and
  to be able to fulfill the projects identified by
  the residents
• Establishing a new structure that is linked to
  the City Council
• The participation of civil servants and municipal
  professionals in creating a means of
  communication to keep the population informed.

27
Additional required conditions

• Improving the quality of life of the inhabitants,
  especially of the poor
• Alleviating disparities between poor and wealthy
  neighbourhoods
• Learning and practicing democracy
• Reinforcing social life and civil society
• Re-establishing the legitimacy of municipal
  politics
• City planning and management that meets the needs
  of all citizens

28
Limitations

• Difficulty in organizing the poor, especially
  those living in unregulated zones
• Rallying the energies to work on the
  participatory budget gives less time and fewer
  human resources to organize around other issues
  in neighbourhoods
• The fragmentation of bureaucratic functions does
  not allow the development of long-term goals or
  global perspectives.

29
Other Limitations

• Risking the stagnation of the Workers Party.
• Concentrating the energies of the urban movement
  on issues around the budget limits the energy
  available for other issues.

30
Percentage-based investments related to the
municipalitys total expenditures

• 1989 3.2
• 1990 10.0
• 1991 16.3
• 1992 17.0
• 1993 14.5
• 1994 17.0

31
Involvement in the Participatory Budget
32
Participants Profile

• 76 of participants are active in other groups
  and organizations of civil society
• 40 are in the lower income bracket
• 54 did not complete secondary school

33
Participation according to age ()
34
Participation according to level of education ()
35
Participation according to social and political
involvement ()
36
Participation according to political affiliation
()