아프리카ㆍ중동

The implementation of Participatory Budgeting (PB) programs in three Kenyan counties is helping to build the foundations for accountability at the subnational level. Kenya’s experience with devolution and the ensuing fiscal autonomy is relatively new (since 2013) and PB, as a policymaking tool, is even newer (since 2015). Nevertheless, we identify several ways that the program is making positive contributions. The authors draw from a large survey of PB participants, a control group of non-PB participants, participant observation, and over 40 interviews with key stakeholders. Our evidence points to several encouraging developments regarding citizens’ attitudes and their behaviors. We find that PB participants generally believe that their participation is worthwhile; they believe that PB is working well and that it is creating opportunities for citizens’ engagement in policymaking. However, authors also note that some of the results of our pilot evaluation are less encouraging and suggest that progress toward accountability through PB is not uniform. To be sure, Kenya’s PB programs are new and we would not expect them to show impacts in all areas or to function the same way as others around the world that have been developed and reformed for almost 30 years. Finally, authors conclude this policy note by recommending specific policies and programmatic features that county governments could use to improve how these programs function. It is our hope that these recommendations will help to consolidate the initial advances we identify in our evaluation as well as to move beyond the programs’ most significant limitations.