Citizens and the city: the case for participatory budgeting in the City of Zagreb

Sandra Svaljek (), Ivana Rasic Bakaric () and Marijana Sumpor ()
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Sandra Svaljek: Croatian National Bank, Zagreb, Croatia
Ivana Rasic Bakaric: The Institute of Economics, Department for Regional Development, Zagreb, Croatia
Marijana Sumpor: The Institute of Economics, Department for Regional Development, Zagreb, Croatia

Public Sector Economics, 2019, vol. 43, issue 1, 21-48

Abstract: Since there is constant concern that local government heads allocate budget resources in favour of various pressure groups, the paper investigates whether local participatory budgeting can be implemented in order to better align budget allocation with citizens’ needs in the Croatian context. The paper analyses the results of the citizen survey intended to question whether the citizens of Zagreb could embrace the participatory budgeting, based on their interest in the way the money of Zagreb’s taxpayers is spent and willingness to participate in the budget preparation process. The main determinants of the interest, awareness and participation of citizens in local budget processes are explored as well. The results of this study indicate a moderate level of citizen awareness and interest in local budget processes, but an extremely low level of participation. Since citizen participation is crucial for democratic decision-making and ensuring transparency and accountability, the identified factors should be addressed in a planned manner. Citizens’ willingness and capacity can be increased through raising awareness and implementing measures intended to encourage spontaneous participation.

Keywords: participatory budgeting; citizen preference; local public services; City of Zagreb (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H61 H72 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ipf:psejou:v:43:y:2019:i:1:p:21-48

DOI: 10.3326/pse.43.1.4

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