scholarly journals Status of Serbian Towns in the Light of Recent Efforts Towards a National Decentralisation Strategy

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bogoljub Milosavljević ◽  
Jelena Jerinić

Decentralisation has been recognised as one of the key priorities of the 2014 Serbian Public Administration Reform Strategy. To that end, the Serbian Government has taken steps towards preparing a national decentralisation strategy. Serbia has a single-level and almost completely monotype structure of local government, in which towns have the same organisation of bodies, and almost identical competences as municipalities do, including some minimal exceptions for the Town of Belgrade, as the country’s capital. In the light of the ongoing discussions on decentralisation in general and, more specifically, on the reform of the local government system, the authors comment on some of the issues in the centre of that discussion, particularly those relating to the status of towns in general and the status of the capital, and provide proposals for possible overall reforms of the local government system. Consequently, these issues will be analysed from the perspective of the need to alter the current constitutional framework.

Author(s):  
Tetiana Sych ◽  
◽  

The article considers the factors influencing the efficiency of management decisions made by local government bodies in the modern conditions of public administration reform and the development of local self-government in Ukraine. The author outlines the features of this problem, the main features of state-management decisions, the essence of the concepts "effect", "efficiency of management decisions", the main approaches to the study of the problem of decision-making are highlighted. The main attention is paid to the direction of research, which takes into account the human factor. The main ideas of the representative of this direction - the Nobel laureate D. Kahneman, presented in the book "Noise", are considered. This work raises the issue of system errors among those who make decisions. The views of the domestic scientist O. Maltsev on the designated problem and the provisions of D. Kahneman's book are presented. The results of the analysis by scientists of the influence of the human factor and psychological characteristics of management decision-making on the efficiency of decisions are reflected. The conclusions of scientists regarding the need to take into account the qualities of a decision- making person and his professional training are summarized. The main characteristics of the personality that influence decision-making are given from the domestic scientific literature on public administration problems. In accordance with these ideas, the requirements for the positions of civil servants, local self-government bodies, as well as the modern practice of training specialists and managers in this field are considered. It is concluded that the primary importance for making effective decisions by local government bodies is the use by specialists and managers of modern technologies for developing and making management decisions, the development of their personal qualities for making management decisions in the process of training and obtaining specialized management education in universities.


1997 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Grochowski

Local self-governments at gmina (municipality) level have become primary components of Poland's democratization. The establishment of self-governing units in 1990 was the most important achievement of the first period of transformation and a very promising sign for potential political and economic changes in the future. An attitude to local self-governments presented after 1993 by postcommunist parties that came back to power, have not allowed these governments to build the infrastructure essential for the efficient operation of the jurisdiction. It also was impossible to establish the next level of self-governance— powiat (county)—designed as a complementary one to gminas. The second phase of self-government reform has been halted. There is still no clarification of the functional responsibilities between different levels of government and no authorization of revenue sources corresponding to functional responsibilities. These facts have a negative influence on local transformation processes including those of an economic nature. That is why public administration reform is perceived as a very necessary step to continue democratic reforms and to make regions and counties or municipalities well managed and administered. However, reorganisation of central government or the introduction of new levels of self-governing units will not automatically promote local transformation. In order to do so public administration requires complex and deep changes. The starting point for these changes will be a new definition of the state and of central government's roles and responsibilities. If public administration reform is to bring real changes its role must be redefined from the perspective of a decentralized state. The reform should be designed and implemented in such a way that helps to work out transparent and efficient mechanisms of intergovernmental relationships. The reform should also change the position of local government relative to central government. New professional standards as well as training programs for local government employees must be prepared to improve human resources and to overcome bad bureaucratic customs and practices inherited from the communist era.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-18
Author(s):  
Viera Papcunová

Public administration reform has brought about, inter alia, the change of financing of original and delegated competences for municipalities. In this context, the conditions for economy of local government have changed, while the pressure was put on municipalities to make more efficient use of their property to receive the greatest possible benefit in terms of economic, social and territorial development. A municipality can manage its own property, but it can also entrust it to the budgetary and contributory organizations. The Act no. 138/1991 Coll. indicates that the municipal authorities and organizations are required to manage municipal property in favour of development of municipalities and their citizens, and protection and creation of the environment. One of the possibilities for increasing the efficiency of property use is also financial analysis, eventually economic analysis. Analysis usually results in practical useful knowledge, creating the foundation for an objective definition of relevant conditions (factors) for the future capital appreciation in municipalities. The aim of this paper is to evaluate financial performance of contributory organizations under the jurisdiction of municipalities with help of selected indicators.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
Lihui Cai

China is undergoing change from a traditional planned economy to a socialist market economy. In this transitional period, China faces the task of reforming and innovating the function of public administration, a task common throughout the world. In order to improve the effectiveness, the accountability, and the quality of service of China's public administration, a number of issues must be discussed. These issues include: the status of China's market economic system and its requirements in the area of public administration; the inner conflicet between the development of China's economic system and the currrent public administrtion; and the overall reform of China's administration of the public sector (the competence of the government, governmental institutions, the personnel system and the legal system). Furthermore, this paper puts forward the notion that China's public administration reform should center on reinventing government by developing democratic institutions and transforming the function of government - particularly in the areas of the legal system and access to information and information technology.


Author(s):  
Svitlana K. Khadzhyradieva ◽  
Sergii V. Slukhai ◽  
Oleksandra I. Vasylieva ◽  
Andriy A. Klochko ◽  
Anna G. Pashkova

Author(s):  
K. Blishchuk

Problem setting. Public finances, as a particular type of relations in the economic system, are aimed at ensuring the exercise of social interests. Therefore, managerial functions and their efficiency in this sphere are of great importance, as the success of all management activities of the State depends on their effectiveness. The search for strategic horizons able to ensure the success of managerial actions in the public finance sphere, the consolidation of strategic priorities for its development is crucial issues for the progress of the Ukrainian State on the path of progressive transformations.Recent research and publications analysis. Management of state finances is a subject of research of many scientists. In particular, R. Balakin, V. Kudriashov, S. Hasanov, O. Dluhopolskyi, T. Yefymenko, O. Kyrylenko, S. Klimova, H. Kotina, I. Malyi, O. Moldovan, and others dealt with these issues. The analysis of their publications allows us to define future ways for developing and reforming the system of state finances. At the same time, the concept of public finances versus state ones is much broader. Therefore, it requires a deeper and more detailed approach for substantiation of ways and strategies for improving the management of public finances in current conditions.Highlighting previously unsettled parts of the general problem. The article aims to substantiate the development of strategies for improving the management of public finances, taking into account modern challenges and development of the Ukrainian State, based on the research of peculiarities of the existing strategies for public finance management, analysis of the problems related to the distribution and redistribution of state funds. Paper main body. The sphere of public finances is regulated by a number of normative documents that define strategic directions for its development. First of all, we should mention the Public Administration Reform Strategy of Ukraine for the period up to 2021, which aims to improve public administration, including the system of state finance management. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the Public Administration Reform Strategy of Ukraine for 2022-2025 and adopted the Action Plan for its implementation. This normative document accentuates ensuring the construction of a capable service and digital State in Ukraine, which safeguards citizens’ interests on the basis of European standards and experience. The peculiarities of public finance management in the system of public administration, its aim and objectives, were determined in the Public Finance Management Reform Strategy for 2017-2020, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. However, the goals set in it need further consolidation. It necessitates the adoption of the Public Finance Management Reform Strategy for 2021-2025. The preparation of its final stage was negotiated at the meeting of the Sectoral Working Group on Public Finance Management of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine in May 2021. A brief overview of the documents that define the strategies for the development of relations in the system of public finances and public administration, in general, gives grounds to assert that there is sufficient normative support in this area in the context of its strategic development. However, a number of problems remained unsolved during the implementation of provisions of the abovementioned strategies. Nowadays, there is a need in Ukraine to improve the management of public finances, especially in the use of budget funds, to perfect functional responsibilities of public authorities, and to search for new strategic approaches to the use of public sector financial resources to ensure the sustainable development of the national economy.One of the crucial directions for solving these problems is the introduction and implementation of the Strategy for the Development of the Public Finance Management System of Ukraine, which should become an effective tool for regulating relations in the public finance sphere and a means of influencing the consistency and effectiveness of reforms in it.It is necessary to adopt a medium-term Fiscal Consolidation Strategy based on the predominance of reducing spending over increasing revenues of the State. The Strategy should be adopted in terms of state budget execution, taking into account fiscal efficiency.In the conditions of growing informatization of the society, automation of all processes, and digitalization of the economy, it is necessary to form a Strategy for automation of the system of public finance management, which should become an effective tool for ensuring the improvement of the investigated sphere.All strategies for improving public finance management should be based on the principles of transparency of public authorities, stability and sustainability of the budget in the long run, budgeting effectiveness, fairness and efficiency of the system of inter-budget relations, consolidation of the budget process. The active use of the latest information technologies leading to the improvement of financial management and coordination of managerial activities of public authorities should accompany the implementation of strategies. Conclusions of the research. In the system of public finances, there is a sufficient number of normative documents that determine strategic directions for its development. However, mostly all of them regulate the peculiarities of the functioning of the sphere of state finances, while public finances is a broader concept than the state ones. Therefore, this shortcoming, along with the objective need to search ways for further development of the sphere of public finances, taking into account current realities, necessitates the development and adoption of a number of strategies that will determine directions for the improvement of public finance management.


e-Finanse ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 67-75
Author(s):  
Adam Mateusz Suchecki

AbstractFollowing the completion of the process of decentralisation of public administration in Poland in 2003, a number of tasks implemented previously by the state authorities were transferred to the local level. One of the most significant changes to the financing and management methods of the local authorities was the transfer of tasks related to culture and national heritage to the set of tasks implemented by local governments. As a result of the decentralisation process, the local government units in Poland were given significant autonomy in determining the purposes of their budgetary expenditures on culture. At the same time, they were obliged to cover these expenses from their own revenues.This paper focuses on the analysis of expenditures on culture covered by the voivodship budgets, taking into consideration the structure of cultural institutions by their types, between 2003-2015. The location quotient (LQ) was applied to two selected years (2006 and 2015) to illustrate the diversity of expenditures on culture in individual voivodships.


Author(s):  
Janusz Adam Frykowski

SUMMARYNon-city starosty of Tyszowce was located in the province of Belz and received the status of royal land in 1462. Its territory included the town of Tyszowce and villages: Mikulin, Perespa, Klatwy and Przewale. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the starosty suffered from a significant increase of various negative phenomena. The crown lands had bitterly tasted devastating fires, epidemics, contributions, requisitions, robberies and field devastations. All these disasters were caused mainly by war and military activities. Marches of soldiers and quartering of troops greatly contributed to the situation and were usually associated with the need of maintaining the soldiers. The requisitions of food, alcohol, cattle, horses and poultry were particularly burdensome for the people. The greatest economic devastation as regards the resources of the starosty and its people was caused by monetary contributions, usually several times higher than the financial capacity of the town and its inhabitants. This work focuses on damages to the starosty caused by the royal cavalry. According to the literature, it is clear that the behavior of the troops in Tyszowce Starosty was not different from the behavior of soldiers in other areas of Poland. It must be admitted that the reprehensible behavior of the army was influenced by many conditions, from the recruitment of people from backgrounds often involving conflict with law, as well as foreigners, to the accommodation system under which the soldiers were forced to supply themselves “on their own.”


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mbuzeni Mathenjwa

The history of local government in South Africa dates back to a time during the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910. With regard to the status of local government, the Union of South Africa Act placed local government under the jurisdiction of the provinces. The status of local government was not changed by the formation of the Republic of South Africa in 1961 because local government was placed under the further jurisdiction of the provinces. Local government was enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa arguably for the first time in 1993. Under the interim Constitution local government was rendered autonomous and empowered to regulate its affairs. Local government was further enshrined in the final Constitution of 1996, which commenced on 4 February 1997. The Constitution refers to local government together with the national and provincial governments as spheres of government which are distinctive, interdependent and interrelated. This article discusses the autonomy of local government under the 1996 Constitution. This it does by analysing case law on the evolution of the status of local government. The discussion on the powers and functions of local government explains the scheme by which government powers are allocated, where the 1996 Constitution distributes powers to the different spheres of government. Finally, a conclusion is drawn on the legal status of local government within the new constitutional dispensation.


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