30 years after the beginning of democratic transition, deconcentrated state administration (DSA) in Croatia and Hungary stands on different pathways - one led to the abolition of county state ...administration offices and extensive fragmentation of DSA, the otherled to the integration of DSA and transforming county government offices to one of the biggest first-instance state administration bodies in Europe. The paper compares developmental paths of Croatian and Hungarian DSA during this period putting it into broader institutional context of changes in local self-government system. The comparation of Croatian and Hungarian case explores the interplay of historical heritage, pressures from international and EU environment, and national specificities on shaping contemporary territorial administration systems, role that DSA plays in post-socialist countries, and the factors that dictate its developmental changes, roles, and significance in territorial administration system.
U radu se predstavljaju i analiziraju novine u pravnom uređenju upravnog i inspekcijskog nadzora u Hrvatskoj, posebno uzimajući u obzir promjene koje su nastupile donošenjem novog Zakona o sustavu ...državne uprave 2019. godine i Zakona o Državnom inspektoratu 2018. godine. Novine u pogledu upravnog nadzora odnose se prije svega na nešto jasnije uređenje predmeta i subjekata upravnog nadzora, određen stupanj usklađenja opsega i intenziteta nadzora s autonomijom nadziranih subjekata, manja poboljšanja u pravnom izričaju te uvođenje načela razmjernosti prilikom provođenja nadzornih ovlasti. Najveće novine kod inspekcijskog nadzora odnose se na novu organizaciju provođenja inspekcijske djelatnosti. U usporedbi s prijašnjim pravnim uređenjem učinjeni su određeni pomaci u smislu usklađivanja s europskim standardima u provođenju upravnog nadzora i smanjenje problema koji su proizlazili iz fragmentacije provođenja inspekcijskog nadzora, ali određena pitanja ostaju otvorena. Ona se posebno odnose na potrebu usklađivanja opsega i intenziteta upravnog nadzora i nadzornih ovlasti s autonomijom nadziranih subjekata, na uspostavu ravnoteže između koordinacije i osiguranja adekvatnog intenziteta inspekcijskog nadzora te na bolju pravnu regulaciju u smislu korištenja nedvosmislene pravne terminologije, kvalitetnijih obrazloženja zakonskih prijedloga i nastojanja da se izbjegne pro forma ispunjavanje zakonskih obveza.
In the paper, new legal regulation of administrative and inspection supervision in Croatia, especially changes that took effect by passing the new Act on State Administration System in 2019 and the Act on State Inspectorate in 2018, are presented and analyzed. Novine u pogledu upravnog nadzora odnose se prije svega na nešto jasnije uređenje predmeta i subjekata upravnog nadzora, određen stupanj usklađenja opsega i intenziteta nadzora s autonomijom nadziranih subjekata, manja poboljšanja u pravnom izričaju te uvođenje načela razmjernosti prilikom provođenja nadzornih ovlasti. In relation to the analysis of administrative supervision the novelties concern first of all clearer regulation of object and subjects of supervision, certain degree of adjustment of scope and intensity of supervision to the autonomy of supervised subjects, minor improvements in legal terminology, and introduction of the principle of proportionality during the conduction of supervisory authorities. The greatest novelties concerning inspection supervision are related to new organization in conducting inspection activities. When comparing the new with previous regulation, certain improvements have been made in relation to adjustment of national with European standards in conducting administrative supervision and decrease of problems arising from fragmentation of conducting inspection supervision. However, certain issues are still open. The latter relate especially to the need of adjustment of scope and intensity of administrative supervision and supervisory authorities with the autonomy of supervised subjects, harmonization between coordination and appropriate intensity of inspection supervision, and better legal regulation in the sense of application of unambiguous legal terminology, quality explanation of legal proposals and efforts to avoid pro forma fulfillment of legal obligations.
In January 2020, the county state administration offices, as former first-instance state administration bodies, ceased to operate. By legislative amendments of October 2019, most of their tasks were ...transferred to the counties’ delegated scope of affairs. The paper presents the peculiarities of the legal regime of delegated scope of affairs and it introduces the organizational forms that the counties are using in order to perform the delegated tasks. The first results of the abolition of county administrative offices are evaluated on the basis of semi-structured interviews conducted with the heads of county administration bodies responsible for general administration affairs. The results obtained so far are classified into three categories. The first category consists of the positive results of this organizational change: better material rights of employees, better working conditions and unchanged or slightly improved position of citizens. The second category consists of the negative results: weaker control exercised by the central government and the loss of control over general acts of units of local self-government. The third category consists of open questions: whether there will be a new increase in the number of employees, or whether their current reduction will affect the quality of work; what is the position of the county governor and whether politicization will increase; what is the future role of counties and whether there can be inequality in the performance of delegated state tasks between counties. The paper represents the basis for further evaluation studies on the abolition of county state administration offices and opens the doors for further research.
In 2020, the deconcentrated model of the performance of state administration tasks in Croatian territorial units was replaced with the model of administrative decentralization. The new State ...Administration System Act abolished the county state administration offices as first-instance state administration bodies and transferred their tasks to the delegated scope of competence of counties as second-level self-government units. The paper explores the effects of administrative decentralization. Based on theoretical assumptions on decentralization effects, comparative experience with administrative decentralization ex-ante evaluation of county state administration offices abolition, five hypotheses about the effects of administrative decentralization in Croatian territorial governance setting are formulated. The hypotheses are tested by analysis of the legal and institutional framework of the performance of delegated tasks, empirical data gathered through the questionnaires, nine interviews, and secondary data. The results show that administrative decentralization strengthened the role of Croatian counties, strengthened their administrative role, strengthened the role of county governors, increased the horizontal and weakened vertical coordination, improved some aspects of service delivery but not uniformity in service provision across the state territory, and improved the transparency but not led to the democratization of county government. Five national-specific factors are analyzed as possible explanations for such results: general societal trends, external pressures, characteristics of Croatian public administration, general features of the Croatian local self-government system, and adopted organizational design.
The purpose of this paper is to research methods of in-service training of local servants in Croatian local self-government. The research conducted in the paper aims to contribute to scientific ...literature given that this area is relatively poorly researched and to determine to what extent the in-service training model is in accordance with the strategic model of human potentials development. To determine this, a legal analysis, an assessment of available documents on training programs and reports on local budgets in Croatian cities is being carried out. To examine more deeply the trends in the training of local servants and to answer the paper research question, a questionnaire was sent to Croatian cities. It is concluded that the importance of local servants training, which the scientific and professional literature strongly emphasizes, has not yet been recognized in Croatia as the legal framework does not emphasize the importance of training nor encourage its modernization, while at the same time very little funds for training are allocated from local budgets. The analysis of the questionnaire shows that the new trends in the training of local servants are very poorly represented and that ultimately the traditional (administrative) model of human potentials management still prevails in Croatian local and regional self-government.
In January 2020, county state administration offices, as first-line state administration offices in Croatia, were abolished and their competences transferred to county second-level units of local ...self-government. This organizational change represents administrative decentralization. The purpose of this article is to examine whether there are any differences in the predictions regarding the effects of this organizational change between two groups of civil servants: state civil servants (heads of county state administration offices and heads of their internal organizational units) and county civil servants (heads of county organizational units), and which are the factors that shape their predictions. A questionnaire was sent to the respondents in June 2019. The statistical analysis of the data (response rate 52%) shows a statistically significant difference between the predictions of the two groups in relation to all four categories of effects of this organizational change (inputs, processes, outputs, and outcomes). There is only one point where there is no difference: both groups agree that the county governor’s role will grow. The difference in predictions is explained by two factors of cognitive biases: the organization’s interest to survive and expand its power, and uncertainty (strategic, structural, and job-related). The paper offers an academic contribution to the field of administrative decentralization by giving insights into the predictions of different actors on the effects of such change before its implementation and by introducing factors of cognitive biases as explanations for discrepancies in the predictions.
U siječnju 2020. uredi državne uprave kao prvostupanjska tijela državne uprave ukinuti su, a njihovi poslovi povjereni su na obavljanje županijama u njihov preneseni djelokrug. Na temelju ...polustrukturiranih intervjua s pročelnicima županijskih upravnih tijela za poslove opće uprave ocjenjuju se prvi dosadašnji rezultati ove organizacijske promjene. Preliminarni rezultati na koje upućuju intervjui pokazuju da je ukidanje ureda državne uprave u ispitanim županijama dovelo do boljih materijalnih prava službenika, boljih materijalnih uvjeta rada, nepromijenjenog ili nešto boljeg položaja grad strok signana, ali i slabijeg nadzora središnje države nad povjerenim poslovima i jedinicama lokalne samouprave. Neka pitanja su otvorena: utječe li smanjenje broja službenika na kvalitetu rada i hoće li broj službenika opet rasti; kakav je položaj župana i hoće li doći do jačanja politizacije te kakva je buduća uloga županija.
Prema Zakonu o sustavu državne uprave iz 2019. ukidaju se uredi državne uprave kao dosadašnja prvostupanjska tijela državne uprave, a njihovi se poslovi povjeravaju na obavljanje županijama. Cilj ...rada jest provesti prethodnu (ex ante) evaluaciju ove organizacijske promjene kako bi se procijenilo mogu li se njezini formalni ciljevi zaista ostvariti. Kako bi se evaluacija provela, utvrðuju se predviðanja koja relevantni akteri (predstojnici i voditelji službi ureda državne uprave, pročelnici županijskih upravnih tijela, saborski zastupnici, župani i javnost) imaju od promjene. Na temelju prikupljenih empirijskih podataka identificiraju se koncepcijski i praktični problemi u provoðenju ove organizacijske promjene te se utvrðuje da ona ne može ostvariti formalne ciljeve. Rad postavlja i podlogu za naknadnu (ex post) evaluaciju efekata do kojih će ova promjena dovesti.
Ukidanjem ureda državne uprave u siječnju 2020., poslovi koje su obavljali uredi kao prvostupanjska tijela državne uprave povjereni su na obavljanje županijama u njihov preneseni djelokrug čime je ...model dekoncentriranog obavljanja poslova državne uprave u Hrvatskoj zamijenjen modelom upravne decentralizacije. U radu se stoga prikazuju obilježja prenesenog djelokruga kao modela organizacije obavljanja poslova državne uprave u teritorijalnim jedinicama te upravne decentralizacije čiji je preneseni djelokrug institucijski rezultat. Pregled znanstvene literature o prenesenom djelokrugu i efektima provoðenja upravne decentralizacije dopunjen je komparativnim prikazom efekata primjene prenesenog djelokruga u češkoj i njemačkoj lokalnoj samoupravi. Na temelju teorijskih razmatranja i komparativnih iskustava, raspravlja se o mogućim učincima primjene prenesenog djelokruga u hrvatskim županijama na njihov institucionalni razvoj i obavljanje prenesenih poslova.
After the abolition of the county administrative offices in January 2020, the tasks performed by the county administrative offices as first-instance state administration bodies were delegated to the ...counties, as the second level self-government units in Croatia. By this organizational change, the model of deconcentrated performance of state administration tasks was replaced by the model of administrative decentralization. In this context, the paper presents the features of the delegated scope of competence as an organizational performance model of state administration tasks in territorial units and administrative decentralization with a delegated scope of competence as an institutional result. The review of the scholarly literature on the delegated scope of competence and the effects of administrative decentralization is supported by a comparative review of the delegated scope of competence in the Czech and German local self-government. Based on theoretical considerations and comparative practices, the paper discusses the possible effects of the application of the delegated scope of competence in Croatian counties on their institutional development and performance of the delegated tasks.
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