Participatory Budgeting in Asia and Europe

YVES SINTOMER is a Professor of Sociology in the Department of Political Science at Paris 8 University, France. Since 2009, he has also been guest professor at Neuchâtel University, Switzerland.

RUDOLF TRAUB-MERZ holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Tübingen, Germany where he specialized on the political economy of development in Africa. In 1986, he joined the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), and subsequently, became country representative in Nigeria, Zimbabwe and the Philippines.

JUNHUA ZHANG is Professor in the Political Science department at the College of Public Administration at Zhejiang University, China. He served as the Director of the Asian Center for Development and Transformation in Berlin, Germany until 2006.

Citizens' participation, especially participatory budgeting, has spread out in both continents, even if the context is very different. This book offers an overview of the latest developments in democratic innovation, presenting contributions from scholars and practitioners of each continent who are highly recognised as experts in their fields.

International cast of authors from France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, UK, Australia, China, Japan, Korea

Introduction: Participatory Budgeting - A Global View; Y.Sintomer, R.Traub-Merz & C.Herzberg PART I: ASIAN EXPERIENCES Participatory Budgeting in the City of Ichikawa (Japan); A.Matsubara Participatory Budgeting in Dong-gu, Ulsan - A Korean Case Study; A. Songmin Participatory Budgeting in Indonesia - The Tanah Datar Experience; S.Mastuti & M.Neunecker Democratic Decentralization and Participatory Budgeting - The Kerala Experience (India); S.George & M.Neunecker PART II: FOCUS: CHINESE EXPERIENCES Participatory Budgeting in China: An Overview; B.He Reflections on Participatory Budgeting in China - The case study of Minhang District; W.Liu Assessing China's 'Sunshine Finance' Policy - offline and online: J.Zhang & L.Zhang Assessing Transparency in Provincial Government Budgeting: H.Jiang Problems of Participation in China Today: Urban Neighbourhood Communities; T.Heberer PART III: EUROPEAN EXPERIENCES Participation and Modernisation. Participatory Budgeting in Germany: The Example of Berlin-Lichtenberg; C.Herzberg Participatory Budgeting in Great Britain: Between a Neoliberal Agenda and Community Empowerment; J.Hall & A.Röcke Participatory Budgeting and Social Justice - Implications of Some Cases in Spain and Italy; G.Allegretti A Polish Case Study: Participatory Budgeting in the City of P?ock; D.Dakowska Participatory Budgeting and Mobilisation in Spain: Who Participates and How; E.Ganuza & F.Francés Participatory Democracy or 'Proximity' Democracy? The 'High School Participatory Budget' in Poitou-Charentes, France; Y.Sintomer, A.Röcke & J.Talpin Conclusion