Page Title

CPI The Lebanese Center for Public Information

PARTICIPATIVE
GOVERNANCE

PARTICIPATIVE GOVERNANCE

23. Whose budget?

Who should be involved in the budgeting process

In the previous pages we

agreed upon

the principle that the citizens can and

should

share in the management of their country in the same way that they are

able to

manage

their homes and their businesses.

If that principle is agreed upon, it follows that these citizens should have a say

in the

size

of the taxes that they will be called upon to pay and in the usage that

the

government will

make

of the proceeds of these taxes.

In other words the citizens should be directly associated in the preparation of

the

yearly

national budget that

decides

how much money will be raised by the

government and

which purpose this money will be used.

As to the way that government will secure the participation of the citizens to the

budgeting process, the web site on international budget partnership proposes

number

of approaches used in numerous countries around the world.

These approaches

vary

from the ones adopted by the Scandinavian countries

Europe

where the democratic process is highly developed to some

countries in

Africa and Asia

where it is necessary to start by explaining the

fundamental concept

to the population.

Lebanon is situated halfway between these two extremes. The Lebanese

citizen

generally understands fairly well the principle of the right to participate

but finds it

hard to

believe, after four hundred years of Ottoman rule, twenty

years of French

rule, and sixty

years of imperfect democracy, to say the least,

that the other party,

meaning the State (Al

Dawle), is serious about calling

for

that participation.

s up to

that Dawle to make the first steps and

decide to

introduce all round

transparency and offer to the

citizens the right to share in the fiscal decision making

process.

Once the principle is accepted it remains to set up a system

to define the

terms and

the

method, and the extent of that

participation.

That is what we shall examine in the following web page

We present below

ist

of twenty five public officials and public, private and

international

organizations and institutions

likely to

be involved in the

budget and

the planning

processes

	Proposed stakeholders in the planning and the budgeting processes in Lebanon
	Ministers
	Parliamentary Commissions
	Ministry Directors
	Ministry Personnel
	Mohafez
	Caimacams
	Municipality Mayors
	Municipal Boards
	Cooperatives
	Syndicates
	Professional Associations
	Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture
	Economists
	Experts
	Media representatives
	NGOs
	Armed Forces
	Security Institutions
	Religious institutions
	Medical Institutions
	Political party representatives
	CDR (The Center for Development and econstruction)
	CES (Le Centre Economique et Social)
	International Donors
	International groups and institutions