Plebiscite model of participatory budgeting  and public values in Poland

Urszula  Zawadzka-Pąk

Plebiscite model of participatory budgeting and public values in Poland

Publication date: 30.06.2022

Financial Law Review, 2022, Issue 26 (2)/2022, pp. 17 - 31

https://doi.org/10.4467/22996834FLR.22.014.16321

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Plebiscite model of participatory budgeting and public values in Poland

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to conduct an axiological and legal analysis of the most popular model of participatory budgeting in Poland (the plebiscite model), being a special form of public consultation that allows the residents to decide each year on a part of the commune’s budget expenditure by direct voting. According to the paper’s hypothesis, both the PB legal rules as well as the practice of its application in Poland are not axiologically neutral, which means that they have a positive or negative impact on certain public values, appropriately strengthening or violating them. In the research, the combination of three coherent methods was used: (i) a literature analysis, (ii) the dogmatic and legal method, and (iii) interviews conducted with three groups of PB participants, i.e. municipal officials responsible for the organization of PB procedure, municipal councillors, and residents. The research covers six Polish cities and bases on a catalogue of nodal public values including: human dignity, sustainability, citizen involvement, openness, secrecy, compromise, integrity, and robustness. The research leads to the conclusion that the plebiscite BP in Poland is not axiologically neutral, its rules have both a positive and negative impact on particular nodal public values, however the scale of negative impact is greater than the scale of the positive one.

Keywords

public values, integrity, public participation, legal norms, axiology, participatory budgeting

References

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Legal Acts

Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 2 April 1997 (Journal of Laws, vol. 78, issue 483 with amendments).

Act amending Certain Acts to Increase the Participation of Citizens in the Process of Selecting, Functioning, and Controlling Certain Public Bodies of January 11, 2018, (Journal of Laws of 2018, item 130).

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Court rulings

Ruling of Constitutional Tribunal of Poland of November, 24th 2009, SK 36/07, OTK ZU 2009, no. 19A, issue 151.

Information

Information: Financial Law Review, 2022, Issue 26 (2)/2022, pp. 17 - 31

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4467/22996834FLR.22.014.16321

Article type: Original article

Authors

Urszula Zawadzka-Pąk

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3774-4295

Faculty of Law, University of Białystok, Poland

Published at: 30.06.2022

Article status: Open

Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Percentage share of authors:

Urszula Zawadzka-Pąk (Author) - 100%

Classification number:

JEL Classification System:

Regulated Industries and Administrative Law (K23)

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Publication languages:

English

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