Reforming local public administration in Romania: trends and obstacles
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852307083464 |
| Date | 01 December 2007 |
| Published date | 01 December 2007 |
| Author | Dacian C. Dragoş,Bogdana Neamţu |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Reforming local public administration in Romania:
trends and obstacles
Dacian C. Dragosand Bogdana Neamtu
Abstract
This article endeavors to diagnose and critically assess some of the challenges
Romanian public administration is confronted with and to discuss some of the
reform efforts that have been made in order to cope with these challenges. The
concept of administrative capacity is central to this analysis – the authors examine
the practical implications of this concept and try to assess what could be done in
order to increase the administrative capacity of local public administration and to
complete the decentralization process. From a methodological standpoint, the
article employs qualitative analysis. Secondary data analysis and document analy-
sis (scientific papers and official documents such as laws, reports issued by the EU
institutions) were used in order to justify some of the comments and assumptions
made throughout the article.
Points for practitioners
The article highlights several of the reform efforts in the field of public administra-
tion undertaken recently by Romania. It points out that the process of decentral-
ization is closely intertwined with the development of the administrative capacity
of the territorial units. The authors argue in favor of seeking a balance between
focus on internal reform and changing the relations between the public adminis-
tration and society. One of the main conclusions is that although Romania has
improved the legislation in the field of decentralization and local autonomy, there
are still steps that need to be taken towards better implementation.
Keywords: administrative capacity, administrative territorial units, city manager,
community development associations, decentralization, local autonomy
Dacian C. Dragos
is Jean Monnet Associate Professor in the Public Administration Department,
BabesBolyai University, Romania. Bogdana Neamt
uis Assistant Professor in the Public
Administration Department, BabesBolyai University, Romania.
Copyright © 2007 IIAS, SAGE Publications (Los Angeles, London, New Delhi and Singapore)
Vol 73(4):629–648 [DOI:10.1177/0020852307083464]
International
Review of
Administrative
Sciences
Introduction
Romania joined the EU in January 2007. Nevertheless, real integration into the
European structures requires that the public administration system acts according to
the principles of the European Administrative Space, and is also capable of support-
ing Romania, in order to meet the requirements of EU membership. Thus, even
though no acquis communautaire exists for setting standards of horizontal systems
of governance or national public administrations, over time a general consensus on
key components of good governance has emerged among democratic states. These
components include the rule of law principles of reliability, predictability, account-
ability and transparency, but also technical and managerial competence, organiza-
tional capacity and citizens’ participation (SIGMA Papers no. 23, 1998 and no. 27,
1999).
It was observed that the major challenge for Romanian local authorities in the
short and medium term is to create the mechanisms for supporting Romania’s
accession to the European Union, in order to deal with the cultural and economic
changes, but also to be able to manage European structural and cohesion funds and
to implement public policies (Profiroiu et al., 2006: 3).
The last Country Report of the European Commission (May 2006) on Romania’s
progress towards accession into the European Union acknowledges the progress
made in the public administration’s reform process; it recommends, nonetheless,
that the pace of the reform should be maintained. The main reason for a positive
appreciation from the European Commission is the new legislative measures taken
by the Romanian policy-makers regarding decentralization and de-politicization of
the Prefect position.
A brief description of the local public administration’s structure in
Romania
The Romanian public administration is structured according to a three-tier system of
government: central, county and local. The state is divided from a territorial stand-
point into counties, which are formed by communes, towns and cities (larger towns).
By the association of several counties eight Development Regions were formed, for
purposes regarding the integrated management of European funds and access to
international financing, but also in order to prepare the moment when Romania will
be able to send representatives to the Committee of the Regions of the European
Union. The regions are not, however, ‘administrative territorial units’, and they are not
legal entities, like the counties, cities and communes.
First, at the central level the President of the Republic is elected directly by the
citizens for a five-year term and he/she has the power to appoint the Government,
upon receiving the approval of the Parliament. The President is not able, though, to
dismiss the Government. Only the Parliament has this power, provided certain strict
requirements are met. That’s why the Romanian system of government is considered
to be a parliamentarian one but with a directly elected President. In other words, the
President’s powers do not match its legitimacy. Under the authority of the Parliament
there are many independent agencies, their attributions ranging from intelligence
630 International Review of Administrative Sciences 73(4)
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