ABSTRACT
Citizen participation in the governance process is widely encouraged by academics and professional organizations and is a popular conference topic. Key public policy decisions are made during the public budgeting process, so this would appear to be an important opportunity for meaningful citizen participation. Yet, little is known about how and when citizens are involved in the budget process. This study uses a 1996 International City/County Management Association (ICMA) survey to explore the extent to which a variety of participatory mechanisms are used in the budget process in U.S. council-manager cities.
