The practice of participatory budgeting and its implementation in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia)

Participatory budgeting is a practice of supporting local initiatives aimed at engaging citizens in addressing local issues, which is particularly relevant for municipalities in the Northern and Arctic regions. Participatory budgeting involves selecting a priority public issue and developing measures to address it: proposing a proactive project, as well as co-financing its implementation by local governments, municipal residents, and the regional budget of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation. This mechanism promotes the development of social infrastructure, the conservation of budgetary resources, the creation of conditions for participation in socially beneficial activities for various categories of the population, fosters a sense of ownership of common interests, the ability to monitor the implementation of proactive projects at all stages, and openness and transparency of budget information. The theoretical and empirical information base for this work was provided by scientific research by Russian and international authors, policy documents, reports by government representatives, and statistical data. The purpose of this study was to analyze the implementation of local initiative support programs, including identifying the main areas and amounts of project funding, the degree of local population engagement in participatory budgeting, identifying factors hindering this process, and developing areas for improving and developing participatory budgeting mechanisms in municipalities of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). These may include, for example, expanding the range of participatory budgeting practices, raising public awareness of the opportunities and mechanisms for implementing these community development support programs, enhancing resident engagement in solving local problems, and digitalizing the participatory budgeting mechanism in the republic and municipalities. 

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