Romanian Public Management Reform

Lucica MATEI Romanian Public Management Reform Theoretical and Empirical Studies Volume 1. Administration and Public Services Collection of Socio-economics English Series Scientific coordination of the collection: Ph.D. Professor Ani Matei Ph.D. Professor Tudorel Andrei Coperta: Alexandru ION Revizie text: Carmen SĂVULESCU Tehnoredactare computerizată: Nicoleta BOBOCEA Descrierea CIP a Bibliotecii Naţionale a României MATEI, LUCICA Romanian Public Management Reform: Theoretical and Empirical Studies / Lucica Matei. – Bucureşti: Editura Economică, 2009 2 vol. ISBN 978-973-709-450-6 Vol. 1. – 2009. – Bibliogr. – ISBN 978-973-709-451-3 65.012.4 Lucica MATEI Romanian Public Management Reform Theoretical and Empirical Studies Volume 1. Administration and Public Services ISBN 978-973-709-450-6 ISBN 978-973-709-451-3 (Vol. I) Copyright © Editura Economică, 2009 Autorul este responsabil de clarificarea dreptului de utilizare a informaţiilor cuprinse în lucrare. Table of contents Volume 1. Administration and Public Services Foreword .......................................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 1 Romanian Public Administration. Context and Fundamental Processes ................ 11 1.1. Romania – Territorial structures, representation and democratic mechanisms........ 11 1.2. Functions for subordinated levels of central or regional governments ..................... 30 1.3. Dimensions of Decentralization and Autonomy in the Romanian Public Administration................................................................................................. 57 1.4. The Romanian Public Administration facing the Challenges of Integration into the European Union........................................................................................... 72 1.5. The European Public Space Identity – Communication Resource in Central and Eastern Europe................................................................................. 93 1.6. Challenges for the Central and Eastern Europe: Euro-regional Cooperation........... 109 Chapter 2 Governance and Local Development in the context of the European Integration .......................................................................................... 119 2.1. Current and Future Developments on Public Services in Romania.......................... 119 2.2. Partnership and local governance in Romania ......................................................... 148 2.3. Representing the local interests in governmental policy making. The Romanian experiment........................................................................................ 188 6 Romanian public management reform Chapter 3 Comparative Studies between Japanese and Romanian Public Management ...... 213 3.1. Structure and organisation of public administration in Japan and Romania............. 213 3.2. The Local Governance and the relation mechanisms in Japan and Romania ......... 243 3.3. Management: the decision-making process.............................................................. 270 3.4. Case study: The Public Service in Japan and Romania.......................................... 279 Annex 3.1 ......................................................................................................................... 307 Annex 3.2 ......................................................................................................................... 314 Foreword For the time being, public management reform represents the concern of most states, no matter their development level, geographical and strategic position, membership to various supranational structures or political and social organisation systems. This process represents the topic of several papers and publications of outstanding international scientists or specialized structures of international organizations, such as OECD. In the EU Member States or acceding states, an argument for public management reform consists also in the need to bring into line with the national and regional administrations and even European administration. In the reform process, the most visible actors are the public authorities and institutions as well as the academic environment, which at national, regional or European level has structured own levers and mechanisms for debate and action concerning the reform mentioned. In line with the above efforts, it is worth to mention the activity of the European Group for Public Administration (EGPA), the Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe (NISPAcee), International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS), European Public Law Organization (EPLO), European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) etc. In this respect, I have oriented my own preoccupations of analysis and research, expressed in theoretical and empirical studies, accepted with interest in prestigious regional, European or 8 Romanian public management reform Trans-Atlantic scientific events. In the actual context of developing administrative sciences in Romania, I consider that a synthesis of the main themes and outcomes is useful. They benefited of national and international recognition, being accepted at specialised events, being published or quoted. The contents of the current volumes focus on two important fields of research in administrative sciences: fundamental issues and developments of public administration and services, on one hand, and civil service, on the other hand. Within this broad topic, several chapters aim and present relevant, conceptual and empirical issues of the fundamental processes in national and European administration, i.e. decentralisation, setting up and asserting the European Administrative Space or regional cooperation. Romanian experiments and practices for representing the local interests in the governmental decision-making process, partnership and local governance or universal services are in line with the European trends for developing the public services. In fact, Europeanization of national public administrations represents the outcome and the engine of changes in Romanian public management in the context of the European integration. The first volume concludes with a broad comparative study concerning Romanian and Japanese public management. Result of a “Foreign Visiting Professor” programme at the National Institute of Multimedia Education, Japan, the study reveals the core values deriving from the culture and social organisation of two peoples with distinct history and development, that unify and separate the national public administration systems. The conclusions of the first volume are formulated in most studies. They are shaping Romanian public administration as a developing system, open and convergent towards the European values characterising the whole European integration process. The second volume focuses on civil servants’ career and training. The Europeanization process, the curricular harmonization of the content and organisation of higher education Volume 1. Administration and Public Services 9 in the area of administrative sciences are analysed in view of the principles of European Higher Education Area. Basically, the studies describe a new for researching and method evaluating the contents of the Bachelor and Master programmes according to a set of principles, promoted by the European bodies, such as the European Association for Public Administration Accreditation (EAPAA). The studies represent an extension towards the pillars of a European dialogue concerning in-service training and the impact of new technologies in public organisations. Important experiences in management and training of Romanian civil service are approached in the context of promoting meritocratic criteria or developing the democratic mechanism, supporting the Romanian public management reform. Of course, only reading these lines, a concrete and detailed idea about the current paper could not be formulated. For those interested, it will be a major effort to cover all the topics presented. Every topic is subject to appreciations and critics, representing the pillar of new developments. In fact, it represents one of the aims for my approach. The other aims are focused on re-launching the professional and scientific dialogue in specialised academia on the coordinates of research in the field of public management, accepted at European level, ensuring an enhanced internal, national and European visibility for the contributions of the Romanian public management school. 6 May 2009 The author 10 Romanian public management reform Chapter 1 Romanian Public Administration. Context and Fundamental Processes 1.1. Romania – Territorial structures, representation and democratic mechanisms* 1.1.1. Introduction Romania is situated in the geographical center of Europe (south-east of Central Europe), at north of Balkan Peninsula, at half distance between Atlantic coast and the Urals, inside and outside the Carpathians Arch, on the Danube (1075 km) lower course and it has exit to the Black Sea (the Romanian seaside is lying on 245 km). Romania has an area of 238,391 km2, being the 12th country of Europe, as size. It has a population of 22,303,522 inhabitants (est. 2006)1. The Capital of Romania is Bucharest Municipality, with a population of 1,924,959 inhabitants. The first documentary mention of Bucharest dates since 20 Sept. 1459. Bucharest becomes Capital of Walachia since the second half of the 17th century and Capital of Romania since 1862. It is the most

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