Citizens have used a variety of methods in order to influence and become involved in the budgeting and financial management arenes in the public sphere. The more obvious one that has been implemented is by voting. When leaders are in office or are running for office whether it is a federal, state, or local election, they vocalize their plans and what they intend to do whether it’s to cut back on specific areas or raise the budget in others. For example, from my experience on a state level, I know that my boss was very clear about where she stood in terms of where she agreed for the funds to be allocated. Many state representatives had specific plans and their constituents are well informed about what their representative supported regarding financial management whether if they voted on a higher budget allocation for Department of Education or to cut back on the funds. With that being said, constituents who are well informed about their representatives can vote in favor of who they feel will represent them in the House.

Another common method that citizens use is direct communication with their legislators’ offices like emails, phone calls, and personal visits. Our office noted every single encounter in detail and reported to the state representative. Essentially, the legislators are voted in by the citizens and should comply with their requests. For example, I remember receiving countless number of letters requesting that she votes yes on a House Bill to raise public school teacher’s pay. Ultimately, the budget state budget must be balanced unlike the federal budget so these sorts of budget bills were pretty challenging considering they would have to cut back on another entity in order to raise another one in the budget proposal.

Townhall meetings have been quite effective in terms of public influence on a more local level. The townships that we served in our district were very open about the budget process and held meetings to discuss the budget plans. When there was a possibility of raising property and school taxes, so many homeowners and families whose children attended public schools were at those meetings sharing their concerns in efforts to influence their decisions. If the council members voted against the citizens requests, the citizens have a right to vote another potential council member in office next term, so citizen involvement is largely influential. Today, we can see more involvement on social media as well. The trend for the future still should involve some sort of face-to-face interaction such as attending meetings, “sponsoring public meetings, lobbying government officials, bringing media attention to policy issues. Governments have used new forms of public involvement such as surveys, focus groups, neighborhood councils, social media, and Citizen Relationship Management systems.” (GFOA, 2) (CRS is a similar system to Constituent Tracking System where their input and services provided are stored)

What methods have citizens used to influence and become involved in the budgeting and financial management arenas in the public sphere? What should the trend be for the future with regard to citizen participation in the process?