Citizen Budget (citizenbudget.com) is an online tool for conducting public budget consultations. This customizable budget simulator lets citizens modify certain municipal services and submit realistic, balanced budget proposals that express their budget priorities.
This case was put on by By the People in conjunction with The Center for Deliberative Democracy, where 317 citizens from Michigan state participated in a deliberative poll in November 2009. The three day event was made into a NewsHour program and was broadcasted by PBS throughout Michigan on January 2010.
The Constitutional Council was a body of 25 appointed Icelandic citizens, which was charged with creating a constitutional draft between 6 April and 29 July 2011. Initially the constitution was meant to be revised by a nationally elected assembly, but following a controversial Supreme Court decision to void the assembly elections, the Icelandic parliament (Althingi) appointed the elects to form a council.
New York City has a historically corrupt and non-transparent budgetting process. The New York City Council is also known for its extremely non-transparent funding structure whereby the Speaker of the Majority can determine a City Council Member's discertionary budget within a range of $3-$11 Million Dollars. The New York City Council has also had a slew of corruption scandels linking council members to patronage and clientialism.
