Does Public Engagement Matter? Budget Processes in Bangladesh

This journal article, Does Public Engagement Matter? Parliament, Public Engagement and the Budget Process in Bangladesh, explores the role of public engagement in the budgetary process in Bangladesh. It particularly focuses on the role of the Parliamentary Caucus on National Planning and Budget (PCNPB) and its relations with different Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) which provide different kinds of support to MPs. Evidence shows that the strategic partnership that the PCNPB has established with different outside organisations have turned out to be beneficial in various ways. There is now better scope for ‘informed’ scrutiny of the budget than before, although it is difficult to measure its effects. The paper delineates problems that may discourage the institutionalisation of the PCNPB. It also identifies factors that may help it overcome the problems.