Problems and Purpose

The objective of this exercise is to reflect the implementation of the participatory budget mechanism by the Córdoba City Council, in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, in Spain.

History

Participatory Budgets were implemented for the first time in the city of Córdoba in 2001. The City of Córdoba traditionally enjoyed a solid track record of citizen participation. In this sense, it is one of the first Spanish cities to establish the regulatory framework for citizen participation at the local level through the Citizen Participation Regulations, through which, more than two decades ago, an attempt was made to channel the participation of the citizenship in matters of public interest, and it is also a city in which the neighborhood movement enjoys a strong imprint and follow-up and has generated solid neighborhood structures and a culture of neighborhood appropriation of public affairs.

Participatory budgets as a technique of deliberative democracy are implemented in the city of Córdoba in a pioneering way in the European context and from the impulse given by the newly formed municipal government that emerged from the 1999 elections.

The municipal government, enjoying broad political support, launches the pilot experience with the aim of achieving an immediate appropriation of it by the neighbors and limiting itself to pointing out the issues that would be the object of the same - expenditures on infrastructure investments - in 2000, which would later be expanded to other issues.

The pilot experience is launched following the Porto Alegre model, which is very similar in terms of organization, phases and times.

Originating Entities and Funding

Funding for the project comes from the Córdoba mayor's office.

Participant Selection

Participatory budgets in Córdoba have two well-differentiated phases, the first between 2001 and the review launched in 2004, and the second from the relaunch of 2005 until the suspension in 2007.

For its implementation, the City Council, in 2001, took advantage of the existing and solid structures and district infrastructures of the city for the organization of the mechanism, it took advantage of the experience of the expert technicians of the civic centers, with a consolidated experience of I work with neighbors and work hand in hand with neighborhood organizations and associations.

Thus, the mechanism is launched on the one hand, sectorally, making proposals for each area, independently, while, on the other hand, a territorial logic is followed in its operation, organizing itself in neighborhood and district assemblies, and not sectoral or thematic, which would mean generating thematic and transversal discussion spaces.

Although the organization and implementation of the process with the neighborhood assemblies was counted at all times, it was the citizens directly, and not through the assemblies, who participated. Participation was open to all interested.

During the year 2000, some citizens ("agents") elected through the district assemblies, discussed the best way to organize and manage their participation, and drew up and adopted a regulation that includes the aforementioned provisions. Subsequently, it was agreed to establish a meeting space in each of the 14 districts (the District Board), in which associations and agents could determine guidelines for joint responsibility in the organization and coordination of the second phase of the process, aimed at citizens discuss and propose directly the elements considered best for their neighborhoods and the city. Next, some spaces were created for assemblies, agents and the rest of the residents to participate in the procedure, debate and discuss; only political agents were prohibited from participating.

Córdoba in these years, has been endowing itself with stable structures, although always open and flexible, which enable and guarantee the participation of citizens in local government, such as the district tables, neighborhood tables and the city table, that while enabling and organizing participation, ensure follow-up and monitor proper performance.

Deliberation, Decisions, and Public Interaction

The different instances take part in the different moments of elaboration of the budgets. Thus, and considering that municipal budgets are annual, the process begins at the beginning of the year and ends around September / October.

The first phase takes place between the months of January and February; the second between the months of March and June; and the third between the months of July and September. Each of them characterizes a distinctive feature of the process. From a territorial point of view, the first is directed to the district, the second to the neighborhoods (and the district) and the third to the city. From a functional point of view, the first phase is preparatory, the second is in which the citizens discuss and propose and the third is in which the citizens prepare a joint proposal for the entire city.

The first phase aims to provide information and illustration to the public about the meaning, purpose and operation of the process in which they are going to participate. The local government with the neighborhood movement convenes the district boards and in them four titular "agents" and four substitutes are selected, regardless of the number of attendees, who receive training by the local government and are in charge of reviewing, and where appropriate , update or modify the self-regulation.

Then, we would enter what is the second phase, characterized by the protagonism of citizens in proposing the issues that are considered priority in relation to investments and services in the different areas.

The district boards made up of agents elected in a district and the associations of the district that so wish, in addition to a technician, take center stage, and summon the neighborhood assembly so that the attending citizens establish the list of hierarchical preferences in relation to the municipal areas involved in the process. Once completed, the district Board meets again in order to establish a single list of priorities for each municipal area for the entire district. The district table, convened again, communicates to the citizens the established order, an order that can always be modified by agreement of the neighbors. This second district assembly must approve the prioritization of the proposals for that district, as it will be the basis from which the third phase takes place. Once the district's proposal is approved, the assembly elects two representatives who, together with the rest of the representatives from the other districts, will establish a joint proposal for the city.

These last elected representatives conduct much of the third phase. The City Council trains these representatives, offers them all kinds of specialized technical information that could be useful to carry out their mission and finally, they are summoned to the “city assembly”. This takes place during one day, during which the representatives decide, in accordance with the provisions of the self-regulation and the training sessions, the set of proposals in investments and services, in hierarchical order, for the entire city. The set of proposals is finally delivered to the municipal government.

Influence, Outcomes, and Effects

The balance that can be made of this procedure in the city of Córdoba is very positive as it achieves the active involvement of citizens in public decision-making in matters such as infrastructure, development cooperation or some municipal services. Citizens feel identified with the public policy implemented, there is a greater appropriation of public space according to what is reflected in the surveys and a lower index of social conflict. The citizen decision expressed through the assemblies is directly reflected in the municipal budgets. Finally, this participatory practice has created a positive synergy of neighborhood appropriation by public issues, verifiable from the implementation of other similar mechanisms.

Analysis and Criticism

Despite the clearly positive balance, the experience of participatory budgeting in this city has gone through several difficult moments, associated with the innovative nature of the project and the effort of greater and better adaptation. Thus, in 2004/2005 the City Council together with the Council of the Citizen Movement, through a Mixed Commission, formulated a revised proposal that would mark the beginning of a new phase of the experience in the city, destined to further open the initiative to citizens, improving the process, and counting on a greater involvement of their social organizations and groups.

As part of the updates introduced, a child participatory budget process is launched, which aims to establish the learning bases of democratic and deliberative practice from childhood.

The practice was suspended in 2007 at the initiative of the new government and in order to rethink and reflect on those aspects that are still susceptible to improvement, such as participation. the opportunity of the times managed, among others.

External Links

Citizen Participation Area of the Córdoba City Council http://participacionciudadana.ayuncordoba.es/

Córdoba City Council www.ayuncordoba.es/

Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces www.femp.es/

Participative Budgets http://www.presupuestosparticipativos.com/