Reorganizacija lokalne samouprave: između teritorijalnog povećanja jedinica i suradnje na dva stupnja

Territorial reorganisation of local governments can rely on voluntary or imposed mergers of general-purpose local units or on creating functionally oriented intermunicipal bodies. A detailed institutional analysis of the German and the French local self-governments has been conducted. In certain German Länder (Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen), consolidated local authorities were created during 1960s and 1970s. Others have chosen softer reform strategies, retaining small municipalities and introducing intermunicipal bodies. Recent reforms in East Länder are directed at enlarging local units by way of mergers. France faced an unsuccessful attempt to merge a large number of small local units in the beginning of 1970s. Intermunicipal bodies have traditionally been in the focus of institutional development. On the basis of 1999 legislation, there were substantial changes regarding intermunicipal bodies – communauté is a new kind of intermunicipal body with taxation power and additional functions. Legislation of 2010 has provided for moving France (2014) towards territorial, political and functional reform of its intermunicipal space by providing for the direct election of the councils of the communautés, by promoting metropoles as well as communes nouvelles. Other comparative examples, except Germany and France, are also analysed. Nordic model of consolidation by mergers has been practised, in different stages of their institutional development, in the U.K., Sweden, Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Denmark, and more recently in Greece. Fragmentation, small units and intermunicipal cooperation are characteristics of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. Special attention is given to Turkish case, which develops in line with North European model based on merging small municipalities.Reorganizacija lokalnih samouprava može se osloniti na dobrovoljno ili nametnuto spajanje lokalnih jedinica opće namjene ili na stvaranje funkcionalno orijentiranih međuopćinskih tijela. Detaljno su analizirane njemačka i francuska lokalna samouprava. U nekim njemačkim zemljama (Sjeverna Rajna i Westfalija te Hessen) došlo je do okrupnjavanja lokalnih jedinica tijekom 1960-ih i 1970-ih, dok su druge njemačke zemlje odabrale umjerenije reformske strategije, zadržavajući male lokalne jedinice i formirajući tijela za njihovu suradnju. Novije reforme u zemljama njemačkog istoka usmjerene su na stvaranje većih lokalnih jedinica spajanjem manjih. U Francuskoj je početkom 1970-ih došlo do neuspješnog pokušaja okrupnjavanja većeg broja malih lokalnih jedinica. Temeljem Zakona iz 1999. došlo je do značajnih promjena u pogledu tijela međuopćinske suradnje, jer je uvedena nova vrsta takvih tijela, communauté, s ovlastima oporezivanja i dodatnim javnim poslovima. Zakonodavstvo iz 2010. omogućava da se teritorijalnom, političkom i funkcionalnom reformom od 2014. ojačaju oblici međuopćinske suradnje, jer određuje provedbu neposrednih izbora vijeća u toj novoj vrsti tijela (communautés), kao i snaženje metropoles i communes nouvelles. Osim njemačkog i francuskog analizirani su i drugi europski primjeri. Nordijski model okrupnjavanja spajanjem manjih lokalnih jedinica primijenjen je u različitim fazama njihovog institucionalnog razvoja u Ujedinjenom Kraljevstvu, Švedskoj, Poljskoj, Bugarskoj, Litvi, Danskoj i u novije vrijeme Grčkoj. Fragmentacija, male lokalne jedinice i međuopćinska suradnja su karakteristične za Češku, Slovačku i Mađarsku. Posebna je pažnja posvećena razvoju lokalne samouprave u Turskoj, koja slijedi sjevernoeuropski model utemeljen na spajanju malih lokalnih jedinica

In memoriam Peter deLeon

In commemorating Peter deLeon and in paying homage to him as a brilliant scholar, great human being and good friend, I wish, in this brief note, to thankfully recall and acknowledge the cordial encounters with him, the insights and inspirations he gave me as well as the valuable contribution he made to the field of public policy research and policy sciences worldwide, not least in Germany. I met Peter de Leon while he was in Germany on several occasions during the 1980s. Our communication and..

Rezension: Stockmann, Reinhard, Meyer, Wolfgang und Taube, Lena (Eds.) (2020): The Institutionalisation of Evaluation in Europe

In covering 16 European countries, the 500 pages book provides a broad overview ("stocktaking") of the development of evaluation in Europe focusing on the institutions and actors initiating, involved in, and using evaluation. The book is made up of the (conceptually reflected) introductory and (aptly) summarizing chapters written by the editors and the (substantive data-rich) country reports written by some 20 country experts. While all countries show a "macro" trend in the convergent rise of evaluation (particularly with regard to government-commissioned evaluation and of "professionalization" of evaluators), the countries show marked variance (country-specific "starting conditions", dynamics ("waves"), institutional forms, etc.). The book can be deemed a valuable update and extension of the previous "stocktaking" of evaluation in the "International Atlas of Evaluation" edited by Jan-Eric Furubo, Ray C. Rist and Rolf Sandahl in 2002. It has the potential of being a standard source and handbook in evaluation-related teaching, research, and practice for many years

Korištenje rezultata evaluacijskih studija u kreiranju javnih politika i javnoj upravi – istraživački izazov u političkim znanostima

The paper deals with utilization of evaluation results in policy-making and public administration. In the pursuit of this guiding question, the article is written in five steps. First, major variants of evaluation are presented with a particular eye to their respective utilization potential. Second, different concepts are sketched that have been forwarded to capture the utilization of (social) science-generated knowledge by political, administrative, and social actors. Third, looking at Germany, Switzerland and the European Union as cases in point pertinent research findings are discussed. Parts four and five contain summary, conclusions and some remarks on ensuing research needs. The political rationality and the underlying political will of the decision-makers prevail in crucial political decisions while in less important decisions evaluation-generated evidence does show some effect and a dose of scientific rationality comes to the fore. However, the stock of evaluation-generated information and knowledge about the effects of policies and measures has seen an exponential growth, which makes the call for evidence-based policy-making and for utilizing the available evaluation findings all the more mandatory and urgent.Rad se bavi korištenjem evaluacijskih studija u kreiranju javnih politika i javnoj upravi. Tekst je organiziran u pet dijelova. U prvom su dijelu opisane glavne varijante evaluacije s posebnim naglaskom na njihovu potencijalnu iskoristivost. Drugi se dio bavi različitim konceptima razvijenim da bi se utvrdilo kako politički, upravni i društveni akteri koriste znanje nastalo u društvenim znanostima. U trećem se dijelu raspravlja o važnim nalazima istraživanja u Njemačkoj, Švicarskoj te u tijelima Europske unije. Četvrti i peti dio sadrže glavne nalaze, zaključke te neke napomene o potrebama budućih istraživanja. Politička racionalnost i politička volja donositelja političkih odluka na kojoj se ta racionalnost temelji prevladavaju kad je riječ o najvažnijim odlukama, dok rezultati evaluacija i određena mjera znanstvene racionalnosti dolaze do izražaja kada je riječ o manje važnim odlukama. Količina informacija i znanja o učincima javnih politika i mjera dobivenih evaluacijom eksponencijalno raste, što zahtjev za kreiranjem javnih politika temeljem dokaza i za korištenjem raspoloživih evaluacijskih nalaza čini to više hitnim i obveznim

Obavljanje javnih službi u europskim zemljama: od javnog/lokalnog do privatnog i natrag?

The paper aims at discussing the institutional development that the provision of social and public services has undergone since its early beginnings in the 19th century. At that time, certain social services and public utilities were provided by municipalities and municipally owned enterprises. This can be labelled as local welfare state. The national welfare state was the most developed in the 1960s. Since the 1980s, these services have been under the impact of neo-liberal policy, the New Public Management concepts, and the European Union market liberalization policy. European Union law has developed its own legal definition of public services and labelled them as services of general economic interest. The development in five countries is analysed: United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Norway. Cross-country institutional commonalities and variance, as well as the factors that have impinged upon such country-specific trajectories are identified. The article, theoretically based on neo-institutional theory, focuses on energy provision. The main conclusion is that public utilities sectors in analysed countries show significant signs of re-municipalisation, i.e. strengthening the role of local authorities and their municipal enterprises in providing services of general economic interest. This is perceived to be a result of the political strengthening of local government within the intergovernmental setting of the national states and of the EU.Analizira se institucionalni razvoj u obavljanju socijalnih i drugih javnih službi od njihovog početka u 19. stoljeću. U to su vrijeme određene društvene i druge javne službe obavljale lokalne samouprave i poduzeća u njihovu vlasništvu, pa se takav institucionalni aranžman može zvati lokalnom državom blagostanja. Nacionalne države blagostanja bile su najrazvijenije 1960-ih. Od 1980-ih javne su službe pod utjecajem neoliberalnih politika, koncepta novog javnog menadžmenta, te politike tržišne liberalizacije Europske unije. Pravo EU je razvilo svoju definiciju javnih službi i nazvalo ih službama od općeg interesa. Analizira se razvoj u pet zemalja, Ujedinjenom Kraljevstvu, Francuskoj, Njemačkoj, Italiji i Norveškoj. Identificiraju se institucionalne sličnosti i varijante razvoja javnih službi u njima, kao i faktori koji su utjecali na specifične nacionalne putove razvoja javnih službi. Rad se temelji na neoinstitucionalnoj teoriji, a usredotočuje na opskrbu energijom. Zaključuje se da sektor javnih službi u analiziranim zemljama pokazuje značajne znakove ponovne municipalizacije, tj. jačanja uloge lokalnih vlasti i njihovih komunalnih poduzeća u obavljanju službi od općeg ekonomskog interesa, što je rezultat političkog jačanja lokalne samouprave u okviru nacionalnih država i Europske unije

Current Administrative Reforms in Germany

Članak se bavi modernizacijom javnog sektora u Saveznoj Republici Njemačkoj. Skicira s razvoj reformi javnog sektora do kraja 1980-ih te se daje pregled razvoja od ranih 1990-ih nadalje. Razlikuju se dva kraka reformskih rasprava i prakse. Prvo, daje se sažet pregled koncepata i mjera modernizacije, koji je pod jakim utjecajem rasprave o "novom javnom menadžmentu”, inače međunarodno dominirajuće, naročito u anglosaksonskim zemljama od početka 1980-ih. Objašnjava se da je u Njemačkoj udar suvremenog modernizacijskog vala usredotočen na uvođenje manadžerskih načela u unutarupravno djelovanje, uključujući pokušaj da se sustav javne službe i zapošljavanja učini elastičnijim, natjecateljskijim i stimulativnijim. Istodobno, drugi tipični koncepti iz repertoara "novog javnog menadžmenta”, kao što su agentifikacija i privatizacija javnih poslova, doživjeli su samo ograničeni razvoj. Drugo, kratko se analizira uvođenje postupaka neposredne demokracije (lokalni referendumi, neposredni izbor načelnika) kojima se značajno mijenja politički okvir lokalne i okružne uprave. U zaključku se "njemački slučaj” smješta u međunarodnu komparativnu perspektivu te se postavlja pitanje može li reforma javnog sektora u Hrvatskoj izvući pouke iz njemačkog iskustva.The article addresses public sector modernisation in the Federal Republic of Germany. First the stage for the discussion will be set by sketching the development of public sector reforms leading up to the late 1980s. Second, and its main part, the essay will give an overview of the development since the early 1990s. Hereby particularly two strands of reform discussion and practice will be distinguished. First, a nutshell account of the modernization concepts and measures will be given which have been strongly influenced by the New Public Management (NPM) debate that has been dominant in the international debate, particularly in the Anglo-Saxon countries, since the early 1980s. It will be argued that ín Germany the thrust of the recent modernisation wave has so far focused on the introduction of management principles in the intra-administrative operations, including attempt to make the civil service and public employment system more flexible, competitive and incentive-related. At the same time, other typical NPM concepts, such as the “agencification” and privatisation (“outsourcing”) of public tasks have so far made only limited advances. Second, a short analysis will be provided on the introduction of direct democratic procedures (local referendums, direct election of the mayors) by which the local political setting of municipal and county administration has been significantly changed. Finally, a summary will be given by placing the “German case” in an internationally comparative perspective and in raising the question as to whether in Croatia\u27s current public sector reform some lessons might be drawn from the German experience