Sept/Oct 2013
Neg Counters Other Options
foundationbriefs.com
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Give people a stake in their local government AMS
Keith Wagstaff. Four Ways to boost the dismal turnout in Local Elections The Week
Magazine. September 2013. http://theweek.com/article/index/249385/4-ways-to-
boost-the-dismal-turnout-in-local-elections
Presidential campaigns often feature hot-button social and national security issues that drive voters to the polls. Local elections, on the other hand, center around the nitty-gritty details of governance, which is why they don't always inspire people to vote. Appropriating funds for parks and schools might be necessary, but it's not sexy. That is where participatory budgeting comes in. Based on a system created in Porto Alegre, Brazil, it gives
citizens control over a slice of their city's budget. Starting last year in New York City, theParticipatory
Budgeting Project convinced four city council districts to give their constituents power over $1 million of
their budgets.
Nearly 40 percent of the people who participated in the budgeting process said they rarely voted in local
elections, according to The New York Times, which could make it a valuable tool to get otherwise
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