Public Administration Reform & Decentralisation
Many transition and emerging economies have engaged in a process to modernise their public administration and institutions. Their role has shifted from providers of end-services to supporters and monitors of competitive markets of private service providers. We combine knowledge of the conditions for a well-functioning market economy with expertise in institutional support to assist governments in this transformation process.
Examples
- Public sector reform to improve the efficiency of public administrations and the quality of public services;
- Establishing administrative structure and procedures to promote the rule of law, including also procurement systems;
- Creating business-friendly legal and regulatory frameworks and reducing administrative barriers;
- Upgrading and strengthening of public institutions in charge of market surveillance and competition, privatisation and regulation;
Increasingly, public administration reform takes place on the sub-national level, i.e. in regions, municipalities and local communities. This is based on the understanding that public services can often be delivered best by the administrative level that is closest to the citizens. This also implies that each administrative level needs to be capable to carry out the tasks assigned to it. To support governments in their decentralisation efforts, we provide the following services:
Examples
- Reform of legal frameworks governing the relationships between the various levels of government and administration, including the definition of tasks and responsibilities of each level;
- Definition of the monitoring and communication processes between the national and sub-national levels of government;
- Supporting the reform of financial relationships across government levels (expenditure assignments and generation / allocation of revenues);
- Strengthening the capacities of all government levels in carrying out the tasks assigned to them, e.g. in the area of public services delivery and infrastructure provision;
- Strengthening civil participation in decision-making processes and local self-government.