Local Government
90
Large Cities
0
Capital Cities
20
Regional or State Governments
0
National Government
0
Other Institutions
0
Local Government
90
Large Cities
0
Capital Cities
20
Regional or State Governments
0
National Government
0
Other Institutions
0
Community
Capital
Santo Domingo
Population
10 738 960
Language
Spanish
Currency
Peso
Indexes
Democracy
60
Flawed Democracy
Democracy
Democracy
60
Flawed Democracy
Democracy
Corruption Perception
137/180
High
Corruption Perception
Corruption Perception
137/180
High
Corruption Perception
Human Development
89
High
Human Development
Human Development
89
High
Human Development
World Happiness
68/153
High
World Happiness
World Happiness
68/153
High
World Happiness
Global Peace
84
Medium
Global Peace
Global Peace
84
Medium
Global Peace
Global Terrorism
120
Very Low
Global Terrorism
Global Terrorism
120
Very Low
Global Terrorism
Legislação sobre Orçamentos Participativos
Along with setting the rules of the process, the legislation establishes a methodology in its own. In this sense, it identifies a source of funding for the approved projects, puts in the hands of the citizens the approval of these projects, establishes mechanism of control and monitoring regarding the execution of the projects. In conclusion, the law encourages the participation of citizens in the discussion of the process, the formulation of the investment plan and monitoring through active mechanisms. Nevertheless, one of the main limitations of this legislation is the lack of consequences when the law does not apply. However, it is important to mention that in Dominican Republic the right of protection exist, and it is established in the Constitution. Therefore, it is possible to claim in court the infringement of the PP process. There have already been precedents in some municipalities.
Outstanding Innovations
Since in the Dominican Republic the PB its constituted in the legal framework with a very defined methodology, the innovations are limited. Although, in view of the current health crisis, the reality is forcing us to identify different methodological actions for the formulation of the 2021 process and the finalization of the 2020 edition.
INITIAL REFERENCE FOR THE ADOPTION OF PB IN THE COUNTRY
The PB process in the Dominican context is based on the Brazilian experience in the beginning of the 90s.
SUBSEQUENT REFERENCE FOR PB DISSEMINATION
The PB has been encouraged in children and youth city halls. This initiative has been promoted by UNICEF and backed up by the Dominican Federation of Municipalities, FEDOMU; which has been shared in international events, used as a work base for this sector of the society and other Latin-American countries.
Impacts of COVID-19 Disease on PB
- PB have been suspended: 0%
- PB continued to function normally: 0%
- PB have undergone changes/adaptations: 100%
Main Trends of PB in the Country During the Pandemic
The pandemic affected the life of the country and, consequently, the participatory processes didn’t escape this dynamic. The tendency is to re-plan the 2019 projects due the adjustments of the electoral system that reformed the change of regime regarding municipal authorities from August 2020 to April 2020. Also, in 2021 to recognize the pending projects of the previous two years and try to carry out a Participatory Budgeting process respecting the security measurements such as social distancing.
Additional Information
Participatory budgets in the Dominican Republic are the responsibility of the municipalities, and in this regard, there are many institutions that provide consultancy services, although FEDOMU assumes responsibility at national level for systematically accompanying local governments, as it has a department dedicated to this purpose, made up of an overall coordination and a team of permanent technicians distributed throughout the territory. Due the economic limitations of the city halls that reflects in the lack of technicians in its structure, the Dominican Federation of Municipalities (FEDOMU) signed a collaboration agreement with the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo which purpose is to help out recent engineering, architecture and other field graduate students, but especially engineering graduates in order to perform prefeasibility studies of the approved projects by the communities since it is mentioned in the legal order the realization of the feasibility study as a requirement to integrate them into the budget as part of the municipal investment plan. The experience so far is that this mechanism strengthens the process in the municipalities and offers the graduates the opportunity to complete their legal internship in adequate time in order to receive the authorization to practice professionally as an engineer or architect.
