The Adoption and Diffusion of Participatory Budgeting: Preliminary Findings from a National Survey of Local Governments in Korea

Participatory Budgeting (PB) has been widely advocated by both theorists and practitioners of public administration as its adoption has become a global phenomenon. South Korea is no exception. Since 2004, PB has been widely... [ view full abstract ]

Participatory Budgeting (PB) has been widely advocated by both theorists and practitioners of public administration as its adoption has become a global phenomenon. South Korea is no exception. Since 2004, PB has been widely diffused across local governments in South Korea. PB was voluntarily adopted by some local governments until 2011 when the enactment of PB ordnance was mandated by central government. There are a total of 242 local governments in South Korea. Of 242, 106 local governments have adopted PB enactment before it was mandated in 2011 while 136 local governments have enacted PB since 2011. A review of PB adoption literature reveals that although PB scholars have discussed conceptual issues, offered normative prescriptions, or provided anecdotal evidence based on case studies or descriptive statistics, a few studies have provided a systematic and comprehensive understanding and knowledge about the PB adoption by local governments in South Korea. In order to fill the research gaps, we conduct a large N study about PB in order to address a question of why certain local governments adopt PB earlier than others. Berry and Berry’s policy diffusion model is used as a theoretical framework that guides us to develop a preliminary model of PB adoption and diffusion in local government and construct hypotheses. Specifically, we will focus on the organizational, political, community and regional characteristics that influence the probability that the event of PB adoption will take place in a certain community at certain time. In order to test a preliminary model of PB diffusion and adoption, we will use multiple datasets including, but not limited to, a 2015 Survey of PB in Local Government, Korean census data, and local executive and council election data. The survey instrument was designed and administered by research team in KDI School of Public Policy in September in 2015. A professional research firm was hired to implement face-to-face or phone interview with government officials who are responsible for managing PB. As a result, 229 out of a total of 242 local governments responded to the survey (94.6% response rate). As methodological approach, event history analysis technique will be employed to take advantages of its capability of simultaneously analyzing both occurrence of the event and the timing of the event (i.e. whether or not and when PB is adopted?). Preliminary findings will be reported and discussed to draw theoretical implications for PB research and policy and managerial lessons for PB practices.