A Brookings Institution Press and Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation publication Participatory Budgeting—the experiment in democracy that could redefine how public budgets are decided in the United States. Democracy Reinvented is the first comprehensive academic treatment of participatory budgeting in the United States, situating it within a broader trend of civic technology and innovation. This global phenomenon, which has been called “revolutionary civics in action” by the New York Times, started in Brazil in 1989 but came to America only in 2009. Participatory budgeting empowers citizens to identify community needs, work with elected officials to craft budget proposals, and vote on how to spend public funds. Democracy Reinvented places participatory budgeting within the larger discussion of the health of U.S. democracy and focuses on the enabling political and institutional conditions. Author and former White House policy adviser Hollie Russon Gilman presents theoretical insights, indepth case studies, and interviews to offer a compelling alternative to the current citizen disaffection and mistrust of government. She offers policy recommendations on how to tap online tools and other technological and civic innovations to promote more inclusive governance. While most literature tends to focus on institutional changes without solutions, this book suggests practical ways to empower citizens to become change agents. Democracy Reinvented also includes a discussion on the challenges and opportunities that come with using digital tools to re-engage citizens in governance. Advance Praise for DemocracyReinvented: Illuminates a method of democratic reconstruction that beganin Brazilian cities and has moved to the neighborhoods of Chicago, New York,and Boston. Gilman shows how politicians and citizens can reinvigoratedemocracy by rekindling their democratic imaginations together. Archon Fung , Ford Foundation Professor of Democracy and Citizenshipand Academic Dean, Harvard Kennedy School With great empirical rigor, Democracy Reinvented sheds light on a surprising democraticinnovation taking place around the world in community centers and churchbasements that is reinventing the meaning of citizenship, transforming therelationship between government and governed, and teaching us how to createmore effective tools for governance. An important and persuasively craftedcontribution to the field of both participatory democratic theory and practice. Beth Simone Noveck , Jerry M. Hultin Global Network Professor, NewYork University, and Director, The Governance Lab Democracy Reinvented pushes past the hype that sooften surrounds civic technology and participatory democracy to describeexperiments that have actually worked and to give us a larger framework andvocabulary for civic engagement in the digital age. A book for politicalscientists and political campaigners alike. Anne-Marie Slaughter , President and CEO, New America Civic participation and innovation is occurring throughsmall and larger initiatives all over the United States and around the world throughthe use of new technology. This timely book offers important insight on thisphenomena and reveals its potential and impact. Merit E. Janow , Dean, School of International and PublicAffairs, Columbia University Hollie Russon Gilman  served as policy adviser on open government and innovation in the Obama White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. She is a Postdoctoral Research Scholar atColumbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and a fellow at New America and Harvard's Ash Center for Democratic Innovation andGovernance.  She holds a PhD from Harvard's Department of Government and AB from the University of Chicago in Political Science.  She is a Fulbright and AAAS Fellowship recipient and has served as an advisor and research consultant to leading organizations including the Case Foundation, Center for Global Development, Google.org, Open Society Foundation, and World Bank Institute.