The Long Way to Public Decision Making through Participatory Mechanisms: Evidences from Italy

The general aim of this paper is to explore the possible links among decision-making in public governance, citizen involvement and effectiveness of public policies, with main reference to the Italian context and the use of participatory budgeting. The economic crisis produced a growing attention of the public opinion on the use of public resources. In this context, participatory budgeting is a tool of great interest, because we can consider it as one of the most advanced tools that reconcile deliberative and representative democracy, carrying out processes of civic engagement in an effective way. From this situation, the present work tries to answer to three research questions: 1) What is the level of diffusion of participatory governance and participatory budgeting in the Italian local municipalities? 2) What are the most recurring difficulties of application? 3) What could be the possible contribution of participatory governance to influence the decision making process of public bodies and to the effectiveness of public policies?