Local Government
10
Large Cities
0
Capital Cities
0
Regional or State Governments
1
National Government
0
Other Institutions
1
Local Government
10
Large Cities
0
Capital Cities
0
Regional or State Governments
1
National Government
0
Other Institutions
1
Community
Capital
Bratislava
Population
5 454 070
Language
Slovak
Currency
Euro
Indexes
Democracy
42
Flawed Democracy
Democracy
Democracy
42
Flawed Democracy
Democracy
Corruption Perception
59/180
Medium
Corruption Perception
Corruption Perception
59/180
Medium
Corruption Perception
Human Development
36
Very High
Human Development
Human Development
36
Very High
Human Development
World Happiness
37/153
Very High
World Happiness
World Happiness
37/153
Very High
World Happiness
Global Peace
23
High
Global Peace
Global Peace
23
High
Global Peace
Global Terrorism
129
Very Low
Global Terrorism
Global Terrorism
129
Very Low
Global Terrorism
Legislação sobre Orçamentos Participativos
In 2019, the non-governmental organization VIA IURIS conducted an analysis of the possibilities of legal regulation of Participatory Budgeting in Slovakia. The organization came to the conclusion that having this term anchored in Slovak legislation would be beneficial (in terms of the legitimate release of public finance) as there is no mention about it in any current regulation. VIA IURIS is in favour of an amendment in which Participatory Budgeting would be mentioned in the Act on Budgetary Rules of Territorial Self-Governmentasanoptionformunicipalities,whichwould then adjust the rules of Participatory Budgeting themselves according to their specific needs.
Outstanding Innovations
Many municipalities started to use the very first Slovak digital platform “The Voice of the Citizens” which was developed in the last year in order to support their PB processes.
The PB process in one particular high school, which aims to familiarize young people to entrepreneurial behaviour and thinking through supporting socially oriented micro-projects, came up with an innovation of student internships in local businesses. It will provide them the opportunity to try out how it really works in the company/theatre/enterprise that have something to do with the topic of their project.
INITIAL REFERENCE FOR THE ADOPTION OF PB IN THE COUNTRY
Participatory Budgeting was brought to Slovakia thanks to the non-governmental organization Utopia inspired by the Brazilian experience. In 2011 they managed to implement the first Participatory Budgeting experience in Bratislava, the country’s capital city.
SUBSEQUENT REFERENCE FOR PB DISSEMINATION
Utopia still belongs to one of the main disseminators of the idea of Participatory Budgeting in the country, based on the philosophy of the Porto Alegre PB model. While implementing PB for the first time, several municipalities decided to invite Utopia to help them to set-up the rules of the participatory process. Rather than referential PB experience, there is an organization spreading its philosophy across the country. Somewhere this approach is well received with understanding, while elsewhere it is considered too intense, time consuming or not in line with municipality vision, needs or its capacity, resulting in opting for other PB models.
Impacts of COVID-19 Disease on PB
- PB have been suspended: 58,3%
- PB continued to function normally: 8,3%
- PB have undergone changes/adaptations: 33,3%
Main Trends of PB in the Country During the Pandemic
Pandemic affected the most negatively PBs that arose in the last years. On the other hand, those PBs that underwent some changes/adaptations or continued to function normally are the ones already established which arose among the first PBs in the country.
The pandemic has also suspended a large wave of interest of regional municipalities in supporting school Participatory Budgeting. While in pilot year, in 2019, 16 schools were involved in Participatory Budgeting, in 2020 there were already 95 of them. If further development of the situation will be favorable, some schools should be able to continue with the development of their PBs again from September 2020.
Additional Information
In Slovakia, there are currently five times more municipalities that experiment with PB than indicated in this year’s statistics. They refer to their processes as PB; however, they do not fulfil the criteria defined by the Atlas. Slovakia already has a critical number of experiments with PB; therefore, we believe now comes the time to start discussing its future. It should begin with a larger public debate about what participatory budgeting should represent and what it should be used for. Obviously, it does not make sense to strictly define it by standards. On the other hand, it would be beneficial to create guidelines which would distinguish it from other grant processes.
All levels of government should understand and be aware that PB can serve as an innovative tool for inviting people to come and think together about the best solutions for global problems and let people co-create these public policies, especially those which represent a challenge for our country or self-government itself.
