CAN PARTICIPATORY GOVERNANCE BE TRANSFORMATIVE?
Chen Wai Wong This dissertation aims to explore the transformative potential of Participatory Governance, and specifically the process of Participatory Budgeting in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The key question is whether the purpose of participation – empowerment – has been achieved in this case; has there been a change in power relationships between the state and citizens that has benefited the development of poor and allowed them to make decisions that impact their lives? I will argue that the closer the purpose of participation gets to empowerment the more likely it will be transformative. From the literature I have reviewed, I conclude that successful transformatory Participatory Budgeting in Porto Alegre depends upon certain political conditions existing more so than other conditions.
