Elected officials’ perceptions of governance relationships and budget participation mechanisms

Issues like fiscal crises and sequestration may cause elected officials to get citizen input in the budget process. This action can be viewed as a reactive strategy used when the relationship with citizens is weakening; or, a proactive strategy to keep governance relationships strong. This conundrum prompts examination of how budgetary participation mechanisms serve representative democracy and governance goals. Using survey results from public officials in 391 midwestern cities regarding perceptions of governance relationships and the use of participation mechanisms, we find no significant relationships and weak explanatory power in the causal model. When trust in government keeps falling, the relative strength of the relationship between public officials and citizens is an issue that public administrators must understand to develop effective budget participation mechanisms.