Abstract
This article deals with the global diffusion of Participatory Budgeting (PB). Developed in Porto Alegre at the end of the 1980s, this social participation policy has been adopted by about 2,800 governments. The aim of this work is to answer the following questions: Why did PB move from a local policy to a global one? What mechanisms facilitated this movement? Lastly, in what ways was this policy transformed along the process of international diffusion? Relying on an extensive transnational political ethnography, this study found that three mechanisms were operating along the massive diffusion of PB: institutional induction, social construction, and the international circulation of individuals. The argument is that a group of individuals the "ambassadors of participation" — was fundamental to introducing PB to the agenda of international institutions. The moment that PB was set on the agenda of international institutions its diffusion potential was amplified. The recognition of PB by international organizations reveals the importance that this issue is gaining on a global scale. Although, empirical observation shows that, in spite of the vast diffusion of PB, the meanings given to this policy can be very different according to the actor.
Policy Diffusion; Participatory Budgeting; International Organizations; World Social Forum; World Bank