Текст книги "25 Questions on Initiative Budgeting: manual"

Participatory design (PD) is based on the belief that involving citizens in the creation of architectural projects of public spaces is a factor of changing the environment and people, and contributes to the formation of local communities.

Initially, citizens were involved in reconstruction projects exclusively for discussion, while budgetary and other decisions were made by professionals. Today, development programs give citizens a significant role in both design and implementation. Numerous state, public and private NCOs that promote the involvement of citizens in the design of public spaces, perform the functions of professional intermediaries between the public sector, private developers and financial institutions. The principle of involvement began to be legislated, as a design principle for the reconstruction of residential areas and elements of local infrastructure, in all developed countries already in the 1980s. In the Russian practice, the projects of involving the population in the design of public infrastructure facilities are still sporadic.

The IB provides citizens with more opportunities to implement their initiatives. By launching similar processes in the life of local communities, IB, among other things, allows citizens improving the infrastructure of their residences, and to the authorities managing public finances more efficiently.

Participatory management (PM). The participatory mechanism in public administration grew out of the basic concept assuming that disadvantaged categories of citizens should receive more rights and opportunities to influence decision-making in the social sphere.

In Russia, such a social experiment to introduce participatory procedures in the system of state social protection of the population was carried out in the Nizhny Novgorod Region.

Through the consistent various levels of involvement of the population in the processes of social management, there is an emerging interest in solving their own problems, management, responsible behavior. Regular interaction between government bodies and various groups of citizens involves the creation of infrastructure in the form of specialized state institutions or an NCO network.

The PM does not require changes in the legislation and can be implemented on the initiative of the authorities of a constituent territory of the Russian Federation. IB is able to become a part of the infrastructure and/or contribute to its creation.

Question 19
What is the “Open Budget” and how does it relate to IB?

Open Budget is public policy aimed at the formation of information on budgets of different levels understandable for citizens. According to the open budget index of the International Budget Partnership, which since 2006 assesses the key parameters of the national budget systems of the world (level of transparency, citizens’ participation and control), in 2015 Russia took 11th place among 102 countries. Starting 2013, our country conducts its own regular survey of the level of openness of the budget data of the constituent territories of the Russian Federation and forms the corresponding national rating. Since 2016, the results of the rating are taken into account by the Ministry of Finance of Russia in assessing the quality of management of regional finance.

Budget for Citizens state project is designed in an understandable and accessible way to provide citizens with information on budget policy priorities, parameters of the budget system of the Russian Federation and the results of using budgetary funds. The practice is implemented by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation and the Open Government http://budget.open.gov.ru/, and is part of a set of measures to ensure the openness of the public finance system at the federal, regional and municipal levels. One of the main objectives of the project is to increase civil liability at all levels.

IB is a practical tool for involving citizens in the management of public finances designed to implement the ideology of the Open Budget at the grassroots level. The implementation of IB projects makes the information of the Budgets for Citizens in demand not only on the federal and regional, but, especially important, at the local level.

Question 20
Why do we need IB, if there is local government?

All current practices of initiative budgeting are regulated by the Federal Law No.131-FZ. “On General Principles of Organization of Local Government in the Russian Federation” dated 06.10.2003.

By and large, initiative budgeting today is one of the technologies that contribute to the development of local government. Often, the funds mobilized for projects of initiative budgeting are the only means of the budget for the development of rural settlements. That is why the World Bank PPMI oriented towards the promotion of rural settlements has been widely recognized.

Question 21
Why cannot professional financiers decide what to spend the budget for?

Determining the priorities for spending budgetary funds is one of the most important tasks that budget process participants face. As a rule, this task is decided by legislators, deputies of different levels of representative power. However, there are problems that fall out of the attention of deputies: complex, chronic problems that do not have a simple solution. It is in this case that making a general discussion allows finding an acceptable solution.

For now, the initiators of IB in the regions are most often the authorities of a constituent territory of the Russian Federation: governors, ministries of finance, ministries of regional development and others. They determine the program parameters in accordance with local features. But any citizen has the right to apply to local authorities with a request about the plans of the region regarding initiative budgeting, and if the answer does not satisfy, form a request to the administration in a form as he/she considers acceptable. At the same time, it is possible to refer to the experience of other regions.

Question 22
Who can assist in organizing the IB project?

Firstly, these are consultants from regions that have already implemented initiative budgeting. They have experience in developing normative and methodological documentation, organizing public events, training activists and representatives of government bodies. Therefore, to begin with, find out who is next to you already has experience in organizing IB projects.

Secondly, these are all-Russian organizations with experienced experts and consultants: the Center for Initiative Budgeting of the Research Institute for Finance of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, the World Bank Local Initiative Support Program, Res Publica Center of the European University in St. Petersburg, the Committee of Civil Initiatives (CCI) with the support of the Kudrin Foundation.

Thirdly, an extensive program of seminars and consultations of experienced experts is currently conducted in the Russian regions under the Agreement between the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation and the World Bank. CCI supported the holding of new forms of training of IB consultants in the form of barcamps, summer and winter schools, activities within the framework of the General Civil Forum. Information about these seminars is posted on official websites and in Facebook communities.

Question 23
Is it possible to believe that the funds collected for the IB project will be spent in a right way?

Firstly, it is funds intended for the solution of pressing, burning problems of citizens, and something you care about, you are more likely to treat differently than imposed problems from the outside. A worrying problem that united indifferent citizens willing to change the “world around them for the better” affects a person much deeper.

Secondly, initiative budgeting is a technology; it differs from a charitable fund-raising for solving external problems for a person that affects a person personally. And this personal interest forces us to consider the ways of our participation in a different way. This is not so much a collection of co-financing, as evidence of the seriousness of the problem before the state authority, which allocates state subsidy funds for solving this problem as a matter of priority.

FACTORS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE IB IN RUSSIA

INITIATORS OF STARTING PRACTICE OF INITIATIVE BUDGETING IN A CONSTITUENT TERRRITORY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Reference

If this problem really worries you, are you not really ready to spend on its solution up to five hundred rubles (the average amount of co-financing from one citizen)? While the state subsidy can reach 2 million rubles.

Thirdly, for the implementation of initiative budgeting projects, contractors are determined on the basis of the Federal Law No.44-FZ “On Contract System of Procurement of Goods, Works, Services for Meeting State and Municipal Needs” dated 05.04.2013. However, initiative groups of citizens participating in the preparation of estimates, project documentation, also participate in the public monitoring of the project at all stages. In this case, the control itself is biased, rather than control by an external professional participant.

Reference

It is difficult to deceive people who are solving their problem and who voluntarily donated co-financing.

Fourth, relatively small amounts are spent on the implementation of each project, which makes it inefficient to participate in competitive procedures of out-of-town, external contractors. Citizens, as a rule, know which of the representatives of local business won the contest. For moral reasons, the contractor is more difficult to execute an order poorly and more expensively.

Question 24
How can I become an IB consultant?

For this it is necessary to contact the regional project center of your constituent territory of the Russian Federation: look for information about it on the Internet or in the publications of local media. Declare your desire and specify exactly how you can get involved in activities on initiative budgeting.

If your region does not have a project center or initiative budgeting is not implemented at all, you should contact directly with the all-Russian IB organizations in Russia via the Internet. In the correspondence you can discuss the options for launching an initiative budgeting program in the place where you live, find out the actual contacts of the regional project center and make a list of further actions. If you represent a non-profit organization, a government agency or a business structure ready to participate in the creation and support of a regional project center, you can provide invaluable assistance to the development of IB in your constituent territory. It should be remembered at the same time about the functions performed by initiative budgeting consultants:

1. Act as moderators in discussions helping to organize discussions.

Representatives of the authorities do not hold discussions. Depending on the size and type of the settlement, different formats of discussions can be used.

Somewhere discussions are open to everyone, somewhere they are participated by a commission of citizens selected by drawing lots (by analogy with the jury).

2. Assist citizens with registration of applications, advise them on complex issues, monitor the operation of the information system.

3. Form reports to understand the situation in the region.

4. Exchange experience with other consultants providing a mechanism for horizontal transfer of competencies.

Question 25
Where can I find more information about IB?

There are several channels for obtaining information about the Russian and international experience of initiative budgeting. We conveniently brought them together in one place on our website:

budget4me.ru

In the section “IB School”, you will find links to useful theoretical and practical materials on this topic.

We will make our cities, districts, villages and compounds better with the help of initiative budgeting!

You hold the keys to the kingdom!

Notations and abbreviations

OB – open budget

PB – participatory budgeting

OP – Open Government

PB – proactive budgeting

PPMI–Local Initiatives Support Program

WB – World Bank

MO – municipality

RF – Russian Federation

LG – local government

LGA – local government authority

HOAs – homeowners associations

NCO – non-commercial organization

Media – media

FZ – federal law

PC – project center

FRI – Financial Research Institute of the Ministry of Finance

of the Russian Federation

BFC – Budget for Citizens

ST – self-taxation of citizens

PH – public hearings

IVH – Institute of Village Headmen

CS – Crowdsourcing

PD – Participatory design

PM – Participatory management

Manufactured and printed by order of Kudrin Foundation for the Support of Civil Initiatives in 2017