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The model proposed by Vroom and Jago for determining the level of participation of subordinates in organizational actions has been proven to be quite effective across a range of decision contexts. When applied to auditing budget decisions in accounting firms, the use of the Vroom-Jago model was found to result in higher quality decision-making, as compared to the results obtained when subordinate participation was determined solely by organizational factors such as management preferences.

At the same time as democracy has 'triumphed' in most of the world, it leaves many unsatisfied at the disjuncture between the democratic ideal and its practical expression. Participatory practices and institutions, as exemplified in the participatory budgeting process of the local government of Porto Alegre in Brazil, claim to embody a more substantive version of democracy that can settle this deficit. This article interrogates this promise through examining closely the case of Porto Alegre. In addition to demonstrating clear democratic outcomes, this examination also reveals that the meaning of democratic deepening is not cashed out exclusively in terms of participation but in terms of representation too. More specifically, participatory budgeting serves to broaden representation in the budgeting process as a whole, by better including and amplifying the voice of marginalised groups in aspects of the budgeting process, albeit through participatory practices and events. On reflection this should not be surprising as participatory budgeting introduces new decision-making procedures that supplement rather than replace existing representative institutions, and reform rather than transform expenditure patterns. Thus although termed participatory, at the level of the municipal system as a whole, participatory institutions assist in better representing the interests of marginalised groups in decision-making through participatory means. Deepening democracy, therefore, at least as far as new participatory institutions are concerned, is about new forms of representation and participation, rather than replacing representation with participation. Keywords: Brazil, budgeting, democracy, participation, representation, Introduction Democracy, we all agree, means 'rule by the people', but unfortunately that is where the consensus ends. Democracy is an 'essentially contested' concept, both in the sense that there [...]

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8500.2009.00636.x Byline: Ron Kluvers (*), Soma Pillay (*) Keywords: accountability; participation; direct democracy; budgeting Abstract: Direct democracy is seen as a means of reengaging citizens in the political process. However, it is a contested concept that requires further development by being grounded in a specific context. This article reports on research undertaken in Victorian local government where the New Public Management (NPM) has been in evidence for a number of decades which according to the literature has impacted on accountability to the broader community. The possibility of consultation and citizen participation in the local government budgetary process was examined. The results reported suggest that participation in the budgetary decisions in local government is possible. Author Affiliation: (*)Swinburne University of Technology

Citizen participation in government budgeting processes is a topic that has received attention for many decades. Despite prescriptive exhortations to cities, research in this area has significant limitations. We identify four elements that are believed to influence the participation process. The variables within each element have received attention in the empirical literature, but no systematic effort has been made to uncover interaction effects and extend theory to make it more robust. We consider the weaknesses of our knowledge, suggest an impact model of citizen participation in budgeting, and identify hypotheses that may be tested in future research.

This article provides a multidisciplinary overview and synthesis of recent scholarship on strategies to increase women's civic and political participation in the developing world. Using a systematic method for meta-analysis, we identify points of consensus in the literature as well as debates and gaps where future research on strengthening women's participation is needed. Strategies to increase women's civic and political participation that emerge in the literature include: establishing quotas to enhance women's representation; using social media platforms to mobilize women and amplify their voices; implementing policies and programs that target women as participants or beneficiaries; and mobilizing women through their intersecting identities. We discuss the opportunities inherent in these strategies, as well as their limits. A secondary goal of this article is to provide a useful guide to recent English language literature on women's civic and political participation for an international women's studies audience. The article includes a link to our Rapid Knowledge Map (RKM, a searchable excel file) that summarizes information about the over 400 studies that we reviewed using an adapted version of the Cochrane method. We hope this resource will be of use to other scholars. Key Words: Women, Political participation, Civic participation, Developing world, Cochrane method, Rapid Knowledge Map, Introduction Women's civic and political empowerment matters for democracy and development. Gender, and here specifically the collective of women, represents an important category for analyzing socio-political structures. The present review [...]

INTRODUCTION 1902 I. TWO DEMOCRACIES: CONCEPTS OF STATE IN ABOLITION AND THE LAW OF DEMOCRACY 1910 A. The Law of Democracy 1910 1. Introducing the Law of Democracy 1911 2. [...], The prison abolition movement, building on a long history of abolition in the United States, is articulating a vision of democracy that centers the lived experiences of people, particularly marginalized communities. Requiring more than legal standing and a secure right to vote, the abolitionist view of democracy calls for economic and civic standing, community self-determination, and equality. This view starkly contrasts with the dominant concept of democracy in the legal field most attentive to democratic concerns--the law of democracy, which defines democracy largely according to electoral rules and processes. This Comment presents an initial comparison of these two visions of democracy. When considered together, the abolitionist concept of democracy reveals the insufficiency of formalistic approaches to build a democracy that is deep, just, and experienced as legitimate by the governed. Looking to abolitionists' concepts of state can deepen public law scholarship and inform the choices of democracy practitioners by enriching their advocacy in the electoral realm and widening their focus beyond elections.

Selecting participants is a key component in the design, operation, and outcomes of public-deliberation events to reflect the diversity of opinion in the larger public. This article examines how the City of Edmonton selected the members of its Citizen Panel on budget priorities in 2009 to inform Edmonton's 2010-2011 budget. The organizers relied on random selection stratified by gender, age, length of residence in the city, educational attainment, and income. This article also reports on the findings from pre-event and post-event public-opinion surveys sent to 5,000 citizens. It argues that the selection method for the Citizen Panel was justified because there were distinct views on key issues among different groups of citizens. Le choix des participants est un element cle dans la conception, l'exploitation et les resultats des activites de deliberations publiques afin de refleter la diversite d'opinions dans le grand public. Cet article etudie comment la ville d'Edmonton a choisi les membres de son Groupe de citoyens sur les priorites budgetaires en 2009 pour transmettre des informations sur le budget 2010-2011 d'Edmonton. La ville s'est appuyee sur un choix arbitraire stratifie par sexe, age, duree de residence dans la ville, niveau d'etudes et de revenus. L'article fait egalement un compte rendu des resultats de sondages d'opinion publique preevenement et post- evenement envoyes a 5 000 citoyens. Il soutient que la methode de choix pour le Groupe de citoyens etait justifiee du fait qu'il y avait des points de vue distincts sur des questions cles parmi differents groupes de citoyens., Introduction This article discusses participant selection as a design decision for public-deliberation events, using the example of the Citizen Panel pilot project held in Edmonton, Alberta, in 2009. The Citizen [...]

II. DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY: PARTICIPATORY GOVERNANCE AND VEHICLES FOR CIVIL DISCOURSE AS AN ALTERNATIVE FOR MUNICIPAL FISCAL DECISION MAKING The preceding Part explained the challenges facing local government officials with respect [...]

I. Citizens Are Presently Involved in Fiscal Decision-Making in Chaotic and Ill-Timed Ways II. Challenging Direct Democracy as a Viable Alternative for Municipal Fiscal Decision-Making: Can There Be Too Much [...]

This study extends the Clinton and Hunton (2001) findings that the degree of budgetary participation congruence (DPC) is associated with improved financial performance by testing the effects of DPC on [...]

INTRODUCTION Networked arrangements have evolved as a key strategy in public policy making and implementation (Agranoff 2006; Agranoff and McGuire 2003; Bardach 1998; Kettl 2006; Meier and O'Toole 2003; O'Toole [...]

Campuses across the country are being asked to respond to a host of challenges: technology, diverse and changing populations, competition, financial stress, and globalization to name a few. Yet, in [...]

Local government organizations have great importance for low-income urban dwellers. They influence whether low-income households can send their children to school (or whether they can afford to keep them there) [...]

Over the past four decades higher education institutions have faced increasing complexity related to governance (Berdahl, 1991; Birnbaum, 1988; Kezar, 2000; Leslie & Fretwell, 1996). In particular, institutions now face [...]

One way governments have responded to the heightened democratic discontent of recent years is to seek greater input from citizens in the policy-making process in large-scale public consultations. This article provides a case study of one such consultation. In the fall of 2002, the City of Saint John, faced with a sizeable budget deficit, sought public input on important fiscal decisions that had to be made before year's end. Citizens could provide their views in a traditional way--by mailing in a questionnaire to city hall--or they could submit their views electronically via the City of Saint John web site. Drawing on a wide variety of data sources, including interviews with city officials and a follow-up survey of consultation participants, the authors assess the success of this particular exercise in achieving several interrelated objectives: facilitating citizen participation in public affairs, enhancing citizens' sense of their political efficacy, providing public officials with insight into public opinion, and shaping public policy. Taking into account both consultation outcomes and the expectations of citizens and officials, the authors identify key shortfalls of the Saint John consultation, as well as avenues for constructive change in future exercises., Sommaire : L'une des manieres dont les gouvernements ont reagi au mecontentement democratique exacerbe qui s'est manifeste ces dernieres annees a ete d'accroitre la participation des citoyens au processus d'elaboration [...]

Abstract: Budgeting is one of the most extensively researched topics in management accounting and has been studied from the theoretical perspectives of economics, psychology, and sociology. Thus, budgeting offers opportunities [...]

Abstract: Practitioners in Europe and the U.S. recently have proposed two distinct approaches to address what they believe are shortcomings of traditional budgeting practices. One approach advocates improving the budgeting [...]

ABSTRACT Recent budgeting research suggests that fairness perceptions play a role in performance. In particular, prior work demonstrates a positive relation between fairness and performance during budgeting. The process by [...]

ABSTRACT This paper examines budget goal commitment and informational effects of budget participation on performance. A structural model is proposed and tested that includes budget participation, budget goal commitment, job-relevant [...]

ABSTRACT This paper is based on survey results from 1,055 partners and employees of an international professional services firm regarding the workplace environment. Data collected address influences on work schedules, [...]

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Many companies use participative budgeting to empower employees, but how much control of the budget process does senior management actually transfer to rank-and-file employees? A survey of middle [...]

It was a great pleasure and achievement for me to have actively participated in the planning and organization of this 'First East African Food Safety, Nutrition, Agroprocessing and Innovation Conference' [...]

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is responsible for managing the U.S. armed services. It represents the interests of the military and participates in the national security policy-making process. The [...]

Participatory budgeting is a relative newcomer in the municipal decision-making realm. Its immense popularity in newly democratic Brazil in the late 1980s sparked a worldwide transformation of the way cities [...]

The strongest civic traditions will not shield communities from the ravages of economic and social transition if they are not capable of self-renewal. The 'Comeback City' bases its turnaround on [...]

The authors identify the situations in which two cybernetic control systems, budgeting and Hybrid Measurement Systems (such as the balanced scorecard), can be combined in packages that complement each other and align with the broader strategies of differentiation and cost leadership., As the economy continues to emerge from the Great Recession, it is time for companies to widen their focus on budgeting and financial controls and for management controllers to take [...]