How to increase trust in government – PB!

At a time of growing mistrust in democratic institutions, PB and other methods of participatory democracy have often been seen as a way to help reverse this.

The World Bank has published research showing that municipalities in Brazil that give citizens the opportunity to voice their preferences on policies and spending (including public policy councils and participatory budgeting) collect significantly more local taxes. For instance, the adoption of PB leads to the collection of up to 39% more tax revenues.

The paper concludes that governments can increase their democratic legitimacy by adopting methods of participatory governance such as PB.

A further research study based on an international survey attempts to extend this finding to other countries.

Read the World Bank paper: Of Governance and Revenue: Participatory Institutions and Tax Compliance in Brazil.