Introduction: Participatory Budgeting as Community-Based Work

Participatory budgeting (PB) is seldom tied to commxunity-based philosophy, and thus is not often approached as community organizing. In this Introduction, this link is established while illustrating how the traditional stages of a PB project, such as outreach, are changed when they are conceptualized and practiced according to this philosophy. Specifically, the basic idea is that PB works best when guided by local knowledge and controlled by local participants. Also, central themes such as participation, motivation, social justice, and empowerment are facilitated by this philosophy. When treated as a community-based undertaking, the effectiveness and sustainability of PB are improved.