Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

How has participatory budgeting been conceptualized? What are its core elements? A process that is practiced in over 1,700 cities around the world has yet to be systematically analyzed in a way that encompasses all the different areas of literature that have discussed it and all the steps of the process. This paper answers the first question by describing the process in practice and discussing the history, spread, and effects of participatory budgeting. This paper answers the research questions by developing an analytical framework with five elements: collaborative governance, deliberative participation, co-prioritization, technology, and nonprofit organizations. The first three elements of this framework are more familiar to public administration scholars. The last two elements however, remain neglected in the public administration literature but have been clearly identified as important in related disciplines and academic fields. Variables are extracted from the literature and combined in this new analytical framework designed specifically for participatory budgeting studies, evaluations, and initiatives.