Public Administration in the Balkans – from Weberian Bureaucracy to New Public Management
Publisher: The Economica Publishing House
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Bucharest,Romania
Format: E-book
Number of pages: 322
Description: The current volume reproduces papers presented in the Workshop which was organized in
Athens, in February 2010 by the European Public Law Organization (EPLO) and the Faculty
of Public Administration – National School of Political Studies and Public Administration
(NSPSPA), Bucharest.
The workshop entitled “Public Administration in the Balkans – from Weberian bureaucracy to
New Public Management” has aimed to reveal relevant aspects on the developments of
national public administrations in some Balkan states related to the traditional or actual
models of the administrative organization.
The organizers have proposed to approach theoretical and practical aspects focusing on
Weberian bureaucracy and New Public Management (NPM).
In this context, the general framework of debates was based both on specificity of public
administration in the Balkan states and the European integration process, particularly the
enlargement of the European Administrative Space to the Balkan area.
As shown by a profound analysis in the papers, the characteristics of the public
administrations are moreover diverse and get closer to the developments of the public
administrations in Europe, such as the Mediterranean ones (Greece, Cyprus etc.) or those of
the states in transition (Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Serbia etc.).
The interactions with different intensities between Weberianism and New Public Management
emphasise, generally, the characteristics of “a new Weberian state” (NWS) for the Balkan
states (Pollitt and Bouckaert, 2004, Meneguzzo et al, 2010), revealing a higher NPM impact
(Cyprus, Greece, Croatia etc.) or a lower one (Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia etc.).
NWS represents a metaphor describing a model that co-opts the passive elements of NPM,
but on a Weberian foundation (Pollitt and Bouckaert, 2004, Brown, 1978).
The fact that the Balkan states belong more or less explicit to NWS triggers their position in
post-NPM era, thus the state remaining an important actor, able to facilitate the public-private
dialogue and to sustain the processes for enhancing the effectiveness of public services and
administration.
The public administration reforms in the Balkan states have targeted one or several European
models of national administrations. Even if the concepts on reform comprise visible
differences, the tradition, geo-political specificity, human and material resources have
determined similarities and common characteristics, which could be emphasized in the
development and actual status of administration in the Balkan states.
At the same time, the administrative reforms have already introduced elements that enable the
administrations in the Balkan states to get closer to the features of “public governance”.
Herewith we refer mainly to participating in decision-making, introducing the elements of
“neo-corporatism” governance etc.
The capacity of adaptation and openness represent a valuable feature of the Balkan
administrations, most of them holding systemic connections of low intensity, thus being far
away from what we call “strong administration”, found especially in the European developed
states. Recent studies support the above ideas, referring to “main drivers of public
administration modernization”, placing most Balkan states in the “very low” or “medium”
South-E 6 astern European Administrative Studies
area (Demmke et al., 2006). When referring to open government or ethics, the same studies
place the Balkan states under the heading “very high influence”.
Based on the above assertions, the papers emphasize concrete issues that could be synthesized
in some large categories:
- Balkan public administrations between tradition and modernity;
- National experiences on the impact of the administrative reforms in Balkan states;
- Myth or reality in considering “a Balkan model of public administration”;
- Administrative convergence and dynamics as support of the evolution towards a
certain model;
- Assessing relevant case studies on enforcing NPM in local governance.
It is also worth to mention that the approach of the participants in the workshop has been
marked by the institutional innovations and trends in European governance, the debates
concerning the model and characteristics of the European administration etc.
The workshop was organized within the framework of Jean Monnet project “South-Eastern
European developments on the administrative convergence and enlargement of the European
Administrative Space in Balkan states” with the financial support of the European
Community.
Lucica Matei
Academic coordinator of Jean Monnet project
Dean, Faculty of Public Administration – National School of Political Studies and Public
Administration, Bucharest, Romania
Spyridon Flogaitis
Director of European Public Law Organization, Athens, Greece
Table of contents: title: Foreword................................................................................................................................................5; title: Chapter 1. Balkan Public Administrations between Transition and Modernity..............................7; title: Transformational Government and Beyond, from Weberian Bureaucracy; title: to New Public Management...................................................................................................................7; title: Sylvia ARCHMANN; title: Institutional Innovations and Trends in European Governance .....................................................12; title: Constantine A. STEPHANOU; title: The Federal Bureaucracy: a Challenge for the European Union Administrative; title: and Organizational Future ................................................................................................................. 20; title: Panagiotis GRIGORIOU; title: Croatian Public Sector - the „Labyrinth” of Public Sector Activity ...............................................37; title: Marija Kastelan MRAK; title: Davor VAŠIČEK; title: Local Self-government Reforms as an Ambivalent Means for Peace and Social Inclusion:; title: the case of Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) ....................................................51; title: Panagiotis KARKATSOULIS; title: Chapter 2. Impact of Reforms on Public Administration in the Balkan States. National; title: Experiences.......................................................................................................................67; title: The Impact of Local Government Reforms in Greece: a Critical Overview ..................................67; title: Nikolaos-Komninos HLEPAS; title: Reforms in the Bulgarian Public Administration..............................................................................88; title: Margarita SHIVERGUEVA; title: Ivan NACHEV; title: A Review of the Croatian Public Administration Reform..............................................................105; title: Vinko KANDŽIJA; title: Davor MANCE; title: Željka Tropina GODEC; title: New Model of Regulatory Decision Making and the Public Administration; title: Reforms. The Romanian Context .....................................................................................................119; title: Luminita Gabriela POPESCU; title: 4 South-Eastern European Administrative Studies; title: Chapter 3. A Balkan Model of Public Administration – Myth or Reality? .................................131; title: What’s in a name? The case of the European Administrative Consolidation in Croatia; title: in comparison to the Central and Eastern Europe..........................................................................131; title: Diana-Camelia IANCU; title: The Creation of an Independent Authority as a Measure of Compliance with European Law; title: and Balancing Between Independence and Accountability: the Case of the Hellenic National; title: Telecommunications' and Post Commission (EETT)” ...................................................................169; title: Vassilios KONDYLIS; title: Impact of Public Internal Financial Control on Public Administration in Croatia.....................192; title: Vesna VAŠIČEK; title: Martina DRAGIJA; title: Mirjana HLADIKA; title: Regulatory Reform – Regulatory Impact Assessment ....................................................................205; title: Kostantinos TSIMARAS; title: Chapter 4. Administrative Convergence between Weberian Model and New Public; title: Management ...................................................................................................................219; title: The Introduction of New Public Management Principles in the Italian Public Sector..............219; title: Calogero MARINO; title: The Administrative Convergence in the Balkan area Empirical Analysis of Social Policy; title: in Romania and Bulgaria...................................................................................................................239; title: Ani MATEI; title: Tatiana-Camelia DOGARU; title: Convergence of Croatian Financial and Budget Regulations to the Framework; title: and Practices of the European Union ...............................................................................................256; title: Davor VAŠIČEK; title: Ivana MALETIĆ; title: Chapter 5. Evaluating a Case Study Relevant for NPM Application in Local Government ......269; title: E-Governance as a step of new public management .......................................................................269; title: Roumiana TSANKOVA; title: Using the New Public Management’s instruments to measure the performance; title: of local public transport service (RATB) in Bucharest...................................................................278; title: Alexandra IANCU; title: Public Administration Reforms in Transition Countries: Albania and Romania Between; title: the Weberian Model and the New Public Management .................................................................299; title: Denita CEPIKU .; title: Cristina MITITELU