Promoting Citizen Participatory Budgeting at the Local Level (KR0054)

Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values? (Enhance Transparency, Anti-corruption) - Enhance transparency in local finances by expanding citizen participation in all budget processes. (Citizen Participation) - Expand the means of citizen participation in the budget process of local governments and invigorate CPB by producing and distributing promotional content. (Harnessing ICT to strengthen governance) - Enhance governance by boosting citizen participation through online and mobile channels.

What is the public problem that the commitment will address? Transparency and accountability need to be reinforced by promoting Citizen Participatory Budgeting (CPB) for sound management of local finances. For the efficient management of local finances, residents’ needs should be reflected in budget planning, settlement of accounts and feedback. Problem-solving projects centered around regional issues reflecting regional factors and characteristics such as environmental, welfare and economic concerns that are closely related to resident’s everyday lives should be selected and promoted to enhance residents’ satisfaction.

Examples of (public) problem-solving Citizen Participatory Budgeting Safety issue (Daegu-si) Prevent fires in narrow alleys Installed fire extinguishers in areas fire trucks have trouble navigating, such as fire-prone alleys. Sanitation issue (Ulju-gun, Ulsan) Create a hygienic environment by installing UV light sanitizers Installed UV light sanitizers for often-used products such as strollers and wheelchairs. Employment issue (Chuncheon-si, Gangwon) Gangwon) Residents helping people with local bus routes Revitalized the local economy by generating new jobs for the elderly and youth. Welfare issue (Nonsan-si, Chungnam) Home visits for home repairs Home repair visits for marginalized people with poor living conditions such as the elderly living alone and single-parent households.

What is the commitment? The primary content of the commitment is as follows: Establish yearly implementation plans for CPB to promote a citizen-led CPB system where citizens can participate in all stages of the budgeting process from budget preparation to settlement of accounts. Establish various ways to collect public opinion such as promoting the operation of the CPB Organization, enabling year-round online and mobile citizen participation and running CPB schools and other promotional activities. Conduct consulting to invigorate CPB and raise regional interest and select exemplary case studies (or exemplary organizations) to encourage others to follow suit.

How will the commitment contribute to solve the public problem? Provide consulting to help develop CPB tailored to unique regional characteristics and expand autonomous CPBs* to boost eup (town), myeon (township) and dong (neighborhood) level CPBs. (*such as by collecting ideas and resident opinions, conducting surveys, holding public hearings, electronic voting, etc.) Encourage the use of online and mobile channels for wider resident participation and promote resident participation in all budget processes and key projects such as budget preparation, execution, settlement of accounts and feedback. (e.g. hold pre-briefings and discussions on the budget process and disclose relevant information on the website and through social media platforms) Promote wider participation of the vulnerable such as the elderly and the disabled to enhance inclusion (through virtual meetings and small-scale local meetings). Exchange and Peer Learning Strengthen exchange and cooperation between the central and local governments and between local governments through communication and sharing of CPB operational know-how that reflects unique regional characteristics. Additional Information Government Policy Task 75-5: Expansion of CPB - Apply CPB to major projects and policies of local governments to enable citizen-centered budget preparation and strengthen accountability. * Open to further discussion with civil society in the implementation process

Milestone Activity with a Verifiable Deliverable Start Date End Date Establish plans for and operate CPB April 2021 August 31, 2023 Provide year-round consulting to local governments on ways to expand citizen participation by sharing examples of diverse citizen participation and cooperation with various regional groups such as resident associations. April 2021 August 31, 2023 Plan and conduct assessment on CPB operation reflecting factors such as boosting participation in all budget processes, disclosing information on CPB and cooperating with various regional resources such as resident associations. August 2021 August 31, 2023 Plan and select CPB-focused local governments that expanded participation among the vulnerable. Provide incentives and share such case studies. April 2021 August 31, 2023 Publish status of CPB projects and resident opinions. February 2022 February 2023 Design, build and distribute CPB online platforms for local governments that enable online and mobile resident voting and disclosure of CPB information in all budget processes. April 2021 December 2023

Action Plan Review

Commitment 4.2. Enhance fiscal transparency of local governments by promoting citizen participatory budgeting

● Verifiable: Yes

● Does it have an open government lens? Yes

● This commitment has been clustered as: Participatory Budgeting (Commitments 4.1 and 4.2)

● Potential for results: Substantial

Commitment Cluster 4.1 and 4.2: Participatory budgeting

Ministry of Economy and Finance Participatory Budgeting Division and Ministry of the Interior and Safety Local Finance Cooperation Division

For a complete description of the commitment, see Commitment 4 in South Korea’s 2021–2023 Action Plan.

Context and objectives:

Participatory budgeting has been mandatory at the local level since the amendment of the Local Finance Act in 2011. The law does not outline a precise definition of participatory budgeting, [15] but allows local governments to consider their particular context in the adoption and operation of participatory budgeting. In 2014, further amendments required local governments to attach citizen opinions to the budget draft. [16] The South Korean model for participatory budgeting builds on the Porto Alegre experience. It consists of a participatory council of neighborhood representatives elected by communities and mayor-recommended experts. They assume responsibility for discussing, evaluating, and prioritizing citizens’ proposals. [17] In 2018, the government also implemented a national participatory budgeting system known as My Budget. [18]

This cluster of commitments includes two initiatives to enhance participatory budgeting by central and local governments. At the national level, Commitment 4.1 intends to expand the Participatory Budgeting Citizens’ Committee and continue to facilitate online and in-person opportunities for citizens to submit proposals, as well as debates hosted by ministries on potential projects. Developing existing practices at the local level, Commitment 4.2 proposes yearly Citizen Participatory Budgeting processes, guaranteeing participation in all stages of the budget process, from preparation to the settlement of accounts. Through this initiative, the government will offer consulting to town, township, and neighborhood governments to develop tools for collecting citizen input, including surveys, public hearings, and electronic voting. [19] These commitments advance the OGP values of transparency and civic participation, offering access to information on budget development and expanding opportunities for citizens to provide input on government projects.

Potential for Results: Substantial

At the national level, the proposed activities have the potential to improve participatory budgeting by expanding the number of participants and taking steps to promote representation of marginalized groups. The national participatory budgeting system established a Citizen’s Committee of 400 representatives, assisted by 68 experts. In 2020, over 1,399 proposals were received, with 38 added to the final budget, representing approximately 244 billion won (224 million USD). These introduced projects such as wheelchair accessible buses, marine pollution surveillance, and counseling for sexual assault victims. [20] Commitment 4.1 plans to expand the Participatory Budgeting Citizens’ Committee to 2,000 representatives, with a composition reflective of the national population in terms of gender, region, and age. [21] Inclusion of women, children, and people with disabilities could expand the range of issues that are considered during the process. In addition, a more exhaustive online and in-person deliberation process could ensure that all initiatives included in the budget consider stakeholder perspectives. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance Participatory Budgeting Division, the commitment intends to extend participation beyond early-stage opportunities, given that the existing process limits participation to the call for citizen proposals and preference voting. [22]

Under Commitment 4.2, developing tailor-made solutions could lead to the progressive adoption of citizen participatory budgeting as a permanent local government policy, according to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety Local Finance Cooperation Division. The Ministry did not clarify how many projects were to be implemented under this commitment. [23] Participatory budgeting has already allowed cities to address safety, sanitation, employment, and welfare issues. To illustrate, one city installed fire extinguishers to prevent fires in narrow alleys, while another city coordinated home repair visits for marginalized people with poor living conditions. [24] However, a 2020 study showed that there are multiple factors that influence the adoption of participatory budgeting policies, such as administrative capacity and the progressiveness of mayors and councils. [25] In some cases, a lack of political investment in participatory budgeting has limited its scope. For example, in Seoul, a new mayor reallocated a large portion of the budget for participatory budgeting to infrastructure projects in 2021. [26] Building local governments’ commitment to participatory budgeting can contribute to fiscal transparency by facilitating information sharing between citizens and budget authorities; enhancing bottom-up monitoring of municipal governments by citizens; and providing a public forum where citizens bond socially and create political consensus. [27] This, however, requires governments to make resources available for successful implementation of projects relevant to citizens. This commitment could also expand public engagement in participatory budgeting, which previously has only included a small portion of citizens due to the low level of awareness of opportunities to participate in the budgeting process. [28]

Opportunities, challenges, and recommendations during implementation

This commitment provides the government an opportunity to define the minimum requirements participatory budgeting mechanisms should include in order to improve these processes going forward. The proposed activities can also advance participatory budgeting in local governments that have made little progress, strengthen local politicians’ investment in participatory budgeting, and expand citizen engagement. During implementation, inclusion of vulnerable populations will require all materials to be adapted to the specific needs of each group (e.g., braille for people with visual impairments). The government should also consider citizens’ levels of familiarity with budgeting and public finance processes, which in some cases may require additional training. The following recommendations can strengthen this commitment’s implementation:

● Adopt rules of procedure for the national Participatory Budgeting Citizens’ Committee to guarantee that all proposals are evaluated following standardized criteria. Information on proposals must be publicly available during all stages of the process, including implementation of selected projects. Ministries must also provide citizens with feedback on their decisions to include or exclude a proposal.

● The government and the national Participatory Budgeting Citizens’ Committee could assess the proposals received to analyze whether affirmative actions should be adopted to include more participation of marginalized groups.

● The national Participatory Budgeting Citizens’ Committee could monitor implementation of prioritized projects.

● A local citizens’ committee, similar to the national Participatory Budgeting Citizens’ Committee, could be considered to provide a formal and permanent dialogue mechanism that reflects the particular characteristics of the community.

● The government needs to consider the needs of specific groups, such as the elderly and the disabled, when designing and implementing information collection tools to guarantee equal participation.