Transformative Potential of Participatory Budgeting

George Robert Bateman, Jr. earned his Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City (UMKC) in 2018 through an interdisciplinary program with economics as his primary discipline and political science as his co-discipline.

• 1. Introduction 2. Theoretical Framework 3. How Can the Hypothesis be Tested? 4. Public Happiness 5. Understanding of Others 6. Individual and Community Morality 7. A Sense of Belonging 8. Conclusion

"Bateman's contribution here is significant. His blend of pragmatic and normative questions offers useful insights to both political theory and institutional design. The Transformative Potential of Participatory Budgeting makes an important, timely, and convincing argument about the need for more democratic participation. If it combines this with further thought about how to redress power inequities both in deliberation and in wider society, it can offer a new way of thinking about politics to faculty and students from a range of disciplines."Democratic Theory"Improving the deliberative practices associated with PB, the author argues, both strengthens democracy against the rising tide of right-wing populism and addresses widening inequalities by bringing marginalized groups into decision-making processes."Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions "[T]he book acts as an introduction to Heterodox Economics applied to municipality-level public policy".The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy