PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFORM
author:
David Špaček
david.spacek@econ.muni.cz
presenter:
Mark vyskočil
marek.vyskocil@econ.muni.cz

AGENDA
1.Public administration
2.Public administration reform
– (research) framework
3.Public administration reform
– the Czech case

n
nSTARTING QUESTIONS
n
n (1) Public Administration - what does it mean? (for example relationships between terms like
public, private, administration, management) (QUESTION OF THEORY)
n
n (2) What are the main functions of the modern public administration?
(QUESTION OF THEORY/PRACTICE/OPINION)
n
n (3) What is the PA organization in your home country
(QUESTION OF PRACTICE)

1) PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
nMULTIDISCIPLINARITY
n

1) PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
n activities
n institutions
n employees ...
n SPECIFICS
OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

nSELF-GOVERNMENT:
n Local self-government denotes the right and the ability of local authorities, within the limits
of the law, to regulate and manage a substantial share of public affairs under their own
responsibility and in the interests of the local population
nTHE PRINCIPLE OF SUBSIDIARITY
n
      (EUROPEAN CHARTER OF LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT, CoE 1985)
PA and its two current sub-systems
       in the Czech Republic

2) PA REFORM
nREFORMING - INHERITED FEATURE OF PA ... STRATEGIC?
n= to make something better, to improve something or to remove the faults of something
(DEFORM?)
nBalance of responsibilities
a) CENTRALIZATION and
DECONCENTRATION /
DECENTRALIZATION
n b) WHAT IS FEASIBLE
and IMPOSSIBLE
nMANY ASPECTS - e.g.
n - economic - political
- legal - institutional
- technical - personnel (psychological)
- financial - social ............. managerial

... PM reform model (Pollitt & Bouckaert, 2004)
STARTING POINTS
OF PA REFORMS
(WEST and EAST)

PA reform in developed countries
nwhy + how 3 questions and 2 main philosophies
(NPM, GG ... NWS)
¡POLICY AND GOVERNANCE?
¡What should government do?
¡Can – or should – government be smaller?
¡Governance
¡
¡ADMINISTRATION?
¡How can government do what it does better?
¡Can we do more with less and, in the process, improve the satisfaction of citizens?
¡TERRITORIAL SEGMENTATION?
¡decentralization vs. amalgamations?

PA reform in CEECs
nHesse’s (1998) 4 common reform trends
1)transformation
2)consolidation
3)modernization
4)adaptation …
n ...5)  modernization
n
n ISSUES®
RHETORIC (LEGAL CHANGES)
VS
PRACTICE




3) CZ REFORM = HISTORY AND FUTURE
OF THE CURRENT PA SYSTEM
[USEMAP]
REFORM « ROLES OF INDIVIDUAL LEVELS

CZ PA reform
     – REASONS / LIMITATIONS?
ncommunist period (1946) - 1948 – 1968 – 1970s ... 1989
including directive amalgamations of municipalities in 1970s

CZ TENDENCIES AFTER       NOVEMBER 1989
nPA (PS) TRANSFORMATION
n3Ds
n„public sector“ and „state – society“ reconfiguration
nincrease of public administration prestige
ncivil service "professionalization„
nforeign know how and money utilization


     a) Reform of territorial PA
1990 – November 2000
civil society
VALUES (AND / vs) STRUCTURE

The size structure of municipalities in the Czech Republic



Territorial PA reform: 1997 - 2000
n- constitutional act 347/1997
n ® 14 REGIONS AS HIGHER SELF-GOV UNITS
n
 - THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES LATER

n
n
          ... SOLUTIONS UNCERTAIN...

Structure of Czech
regions and regions of cohesion


b) Central PA reform
n... SEPARATED FROM THE TERRITORIAL PA REFORM
n
nTHE ROLE OF THE CENTRE WAS UNDERESTIMATED...
nREPEATED GOALS:
¡to start reforming
¡harmonization and systematization
     = consolidation of the central stat administration system
¡increase of effectiveness
¡improvement of horizontal and vertical cooperation
¡improvement of management


   2004’s reform of central administration
Office of the Government
!!!

Current trends of Czech PA Reform
n(explicitly or implicitly) overlap from the previous period
n
semi-annual reports shall be, but have not been published (except RIA)
MAIN ISSUES: UNCLEAR STRATEGY, LOW QUALITY OF PREPARATION...