Citizen Participation in Local Government Budgeting: An Analysis of Influencing Factors in Central Gonja District of Ghana

Abstract

Citizen participation has received much attention in participatory budgeting literature yet few studies have focused on expanding the discussions on the perceptions around factors that influence citizen participation. This paper sought to investigate the factors that support or hinder citizens’ participation in budgeting decisions in the context of a developing country focusing on demographic and behavioral factors. The research used a quantitative design with a sample of 137 respondents from the Central Gonja District in Ghana. The study employed a principal component analysis to extract factors that best described the main variables. Cronbach Alpha was used to test the reliability of the individual scales. The study found a high positive and statistically significant relationship between demographic factors and citizen participation (r=.791) as well as between behavioral factors and citizen participation (r=.711). The multiple regression results showed that demographic factors such age, gender, and education have positive effect citizen participation (?=.467; ?=.339; and ?=.094) respectively. Also, behavioral factors (trust and attitude) was found to have a significant influence on citizen participation in the budgeting process (?=.466 and ?=.296) respectively. The outcome of this study contributes significantly to our understanding of how behavioral factors and demographic factors shape and influence the level of citizen participation in budgeting processes at the local level. The study concludes that government efforts should empower citizens, especially women and young people, through education with tools of the budget formulation process to ensure their full participation.