Participatory Budgeting-new style

Abstract This chapter explores local-level hybrids, with special attention to ‘Participatory Budgeting-new style’ (PB-ns), combining increased emphasis on large-scale voting—often digital, web-based—with continued attention to deliberative participation in local budgeting. This is examined through the lens of the Citizens’ Budget of District Antwerp, a Belgian town with a reputation for creative design in this realm, while recognizing more or less similar processes in other cities around the world. In view of the values framework, Antwerp’s Burgerbegroting is seen as a relatively multifunctional instrument that largely—although not perfectly—does what it is expected to do in this context. The thoughtful and persistent effort to mix and balance different design principles and to connect with the local context is what makes Antwerp’s Citizens’ Budget exemplary. As in the previous chapter, a separate text box is dedicated to institutional variations on the same theme.