very poor and of the young is highlighted as a challenge. Nevertheless, studies show that although participants may not fully mirror the demographics of the population as a whole, participatory budgeting fares better than the status quo of traditional representative democracy institutions. For instance, political scientist Graham Smith notes that participatory budgeting in Porto Alegre has been substantially more effective in mobilizing women and citizens from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. In a similar vein, a report on New York City's process shows that participatory budgeting was more successful in mobilizing people of color and low-income groups than local elections. Clientelism Participatory budgeting may also struggle to overcome existing clientelism. Misallocation resources Participatory budgeting can harm other government projects, which may not be pursued due to finite resources being allocated elsewhere. In Chicago, participatory budgeting has been criticized for increasing funding to recreational projects while allocating less to infrastructure projects. Additionally, participatory budgeting has many barriers to entry for governments; thus, officials fear electoral costs. Institutions also might lack resources and political will to engage. Some institutions also lack the bureaucratic structure to be able to design and execute this kind of approach. Examples Latin America In 2012, around 40% of participatory budgeting programs were located in Latin America, where the concept and mechanics of the system were developed in the 1980s. The goal was to "democratize democracy" by engaging the general public, fighting clientelism, and mobilizing the underprivileged who had been left out and left behind by the Brazilian political system. The participatory pyramid consists of three levels: local assemblies that are open to all residents, district participation forums, and a general participatory council at the city level. The meetings' objectives include debating priorities and choosing representatives to oversee the implementation of recommendations. Anyone who desires to participate in open meetings is permitted to do so. Porto Alegre, Brazil, is an interesting case of Latin American participatory budgeting: following some earlier attempts in smaller towns, participatory budgeting came into its own in Porto Alegre as a result of a "window of opportunity" that emerged following an electoral victory by the Workers' Party in 1988. North America and Europe Adaptations of the participatory democracy model are found mainly in Spain and Italy. Also widespread on the Iberian Peninsula are participatory budgets that incorporate elements of the multi-stakeholder participation model. The most widespread participatory budgets in Europe, however, are those that closely resemble