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Drawing on the policy-transfer literature, where processes such as Europeanization accentuate the role of policy networks as facilitators or constraints in the implementation of acquis, in addition to the familiar mechanism of “conditionality”, the principal objective of this article is to explore the challenges of policy learning toward administrative-capacity building and, more specifically, the role of what I refer to here as “donor-bureaucrat-contractor” networks in the Western Balkans. By employing a qualitative methodology consisting of forty semi-structured interviews and focus groups with policymakers, donor officers, civil-society experts and consultants in the region during the period of January 2011 to December 2016, a critical analysis of aid-supported policy learning via training as a conduit to administrative capacity-building reveals a series of context-specific dimensions, such as the informality of such networks, overreliance on local NGOs as “capacitybuilding” implementation partners and the ability of the context to affect donor behaviour - all ultimately contributing to the (non-) occurrence of policy transfer. Th e overarching conclusion this article draws is that potential answers to problems with aid-supported policy learning in the region may probably lie in the invisible workings of the aforementioned networks rather than solely in the official channels of communication between Brussels and regional governments. From a policymaking standpoint, this conclusion in itself may as well be construed as a recommendation to mobilize future research surrounding the impact of such networks on European Union (EU) accession processes in the region. Th is may encourage research organizations both in the EU and the region to (re) orient future endeavors towards this dimension of administrative capacity-building - a core requirement for EU accession - especially as the EU itself faces its own enlargement dilemmas following Brexit while the region faces threats of a potential revival of “old” ethnic conflicts, both affecting the progress of administrative reforms and prospects of EU accession.

A descentralização da administração pública para os governos locais ditada pela Constituição de 88 deu maior autonomia administrativa aos municípios, aumentando consequentemente a sua responsabilidade em relação ao fornecimento de serviços à população. Com isso, percebeu-se um aumento do volume de recursos a serem geridos localmente, o que, no entanto, não foi acompanhado na mesma velocidade pela capacidade dos governos municipais de geri-los. Neste sentido, o presente estudo teve por objetivo demonstrar as repercussões das capacidades administrativas no desempenho e desenvolvimento dos municípios goianos. Adotou-se a pesquisa descritiva, transversal e de pesquisa documental para o desenvolvimento deste estudo. Para a análise dos dados, foram utilizados procedimentos e técnicas que compõem a estatística descritiva o que permitiu a análise e a interpretação dos dados a partir de categorias preestabelecidas, criadas com base na fundamentação teórica. Percebeu-se uma relação positiva entre tamanho municipal e capacidade administrativa, uma vez que, municípios maiores trabalham com menos receita, com reduzido quadro de servidores, mas são capazes de entregar melhores resultados no que tange o desenvolvimento municipal e humano. The decentralization of public administration to local governments dictated by the Constitution of 88 gave greater administrative autonomy to municipalities, thereby increasing their responsibility for providing services to the population. As a result, there was an increase in the volume of resources to be managed locally, which, however, was not matched at the same speed by the capacity of municipal governments to manage them. In this sense, the present study aimed to demonstrate the repercussions of administ rative capacities on the performance and development of the municipalities of Goiás. We adopted the descriptive, cross-sectional and documentary research for the development of this study. For data analysis, we used procedures and techniques that make up descriptive statistics, which allowed the analysis and interpretation of data from pre-established categories, created based on the theoretical foundation. There was a positive relationship between municipal size and administrative capacity, since larger municipalities work with less revenue, with fewer staff, but are able to deliver better results regarding municipal and human development.

V Sloveniji imamo veliko število majhnih do srednjih velikih občin, ki se soočajo s težavami na področju kadrovskih in finančnih virov. Ena od rešitev za te težave je medobčinsko sodelovanje, ki poteka na različnih področjih in v različnih oblikah. Eno od teh področij so infrastrukturni in drugi projekti, kjer se z medobčinskim sodelovanjem poskuša povečati tudi upravljavska sposobnost občin. V diplomskem delu je v teoretičnem delu predstavljeno področje lokalne samouprave, upravljavske sposobnosti občin, medobčinskega sodelovanja in vodenja projektov, ki so glavna tema diplomskega dela. V empiričnem delu so s pomočjo statistične metode zbrani, obdelani in predstavljeni rezultati, ki so bili pridobljeni s pomočjo anketnega vprašalnika, razdeljenega med direktorje občinskih uprav, ki sodijo v Jugovzhodno statistično regijo. Na tej podlagi smo preučili povezavo med medobčinskim sodelovanjem in upravljavsko sposobnostjo občin na področju razvoja in vodenja projektov. Na podlagi preučene literature in izvedene empirične raziskave lahko ugotovimo, da v Jugovzhodni statistični regiji prevladujejo majhne do srednje velike občine, ki menijo, da imajo premalo zaposlenih v občinski upravi, kar vpliva na nizko upravljavsko sposobnost občin, zato občine v primeru večjih infrastrukturnih projektov med seboj sodelujejo. Rezultati empirične raziskave so pokazali tudi, da nizka upravljavska sposobnost občin ne vpliva vedno na medobčinsko sodelovanje pri razvoju in vodenju projektov, saj se občine v veliki meri za medobčinsko sodelovanje odločijo predvsem zaradi pomanjkanja finančnih sredstev. In Slovenia, we have many small to middle-sized municipalities, which face personnel and financial problems. One of the solutions are infrastructure and other projects, where they use inter-municipal cooperation to increase managing ability of the municipalities. In the theoretical part, the diploma thesis presents local self-government, managing abilities of the municipalities, inter-municipal cooperation, and managing of the projects, which are the main topic of the diploma thesis. The empirical part has gathered, processed, and presented the results of the statistic method of a questionnaire, distributed to the municipalities' managers of the South-eastern statistic area. Based on the questionnaire, we have researched the connections between inter-municipal cooperation and managing ability of the municipalities for development and project management. Based on the researched literature and the executed empirical research, we can conclude that there are mostly small to middle-sized municipalities in the South-eastern statistic region. They think that they do not have enough employees in the municipality administration, which affects lower managing ability of the municipalities. Therefore, the municipalities cooperate in cases of bigger infrastructure projects. The results of the research have also shown that lower managing capacity of the municipalities does not always affect the inter-municipal cooperation of development and managing of the projects because municipalities decide for inter-municipal cooperation especially because of the lack of finances.

У статті досліджено поняття та особливості адміністративно-правового статусу жінок, які постраждали внаслідок збройного конфлікту. Проведений аналіз дозволяє стверджувати, що адміністративно-правовий статус жінок, які постраждали внаслідок збройного конфлікту, передбачає їх правове положення у відносинах з органами виконавчої влади, задоволення їх прав та охоронюваних законом інтересів шляхом звернення до таких органів. Жінки, які постраждали внаслідок збройного конфлікту, мають загальний адміністративно-правовий статус, як і інші громадяни. The article examines the concepts and features of the administrative and legal status of women affected by armed conflict. The analysis suggests that the administrative and legal status of women affected by armed conflict provides for their legal status in relations with the executive, satisfaction of their rights and legally protected interests by applying to such bodies. Women affected by the armed conflict have the same administrative and legal status as other citizens

ÇOLAK, Ezgi. Administrative Capacity: Theory and Current Discussions, Master’s Thesis, Ankara, 2019. Administrative capacity attracts attention as one of the main areas of capacity building activities. On the other hand, there is a need for a comprehensive study on the importance of administrative capacity, its impact on political and managerial processes, and its relation to theoretical debates, current issues and new trends in the field of public administration. One of the main aims of this thesis is to contribute to the elimination of this deficiency in Turkish literature. Another aim of the thesis is to understand how administrative capacity is used, defined and operationalized. In the first part of the study, the capacity definitions in the literature, the dimensions which the capacity is based on, the types of capacity and the approaches to capacity in historical process was examined. In the second part of the study, the importance of the administrative capacity, the reasons for the need for administrative capacity, the international literature on the definitions, dimensions and types of administrative capacity was discussed. In the third part of the thesis, theoretical debates was reviewed, current issues and new trends on administrative capacity in the light of various administrative approaches was examined. In the results section of the thesis, the theoretical evaluation of administrative capacity was examined. Keywords Capacity, State Capacity, Administrative Capacity, Capacity Development, Policy Capacity ÖZET ÇOLAK, Ezgi. İdari Kapasite: Teorik ve Güncel Tartışmalar, Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Ankara, 2019. İdari kapasite, kapasite geliştirme faaliyetlerinin temel alanlarından biri olarak dikkat çekmektedir. Öte yandan, kamu yönetimi alanında idari kapasitenin önemi, kavramın politik ve yönetsel süreçler üzerindeki etkisi ile teorik tartışmalar, güncel konular ve yeni eğilimlerle ilişkisi üzerine kapsamlı bir çalışmaya ihtiyaç duyulmaktadır. Bu tezin temel amaçlarından biri, Türkçe literatürdeki bu eksikliğin giderilmesine katkıda bulunmaktır. Tezin bir başka amacı da idari kapasitenin nasıl kullanıldığını, tanımlandığını ve işlediğini anlamaktır. Tezin birinci bölümünde, literatürdeki kapasite tanımları, kapasitenin temel aldığı boyutlar, kapasite türleri ve tarihsel süreçteki kapasite yaklaşımları incelenmiştir. Tezin ikinci bölümünde, idari kapasitenin önemi, idari kapasiteye duyulan ihtiyacın nedenleri, tanımlara ilişkin uluslararası literatür, idari kapasitenin boyutları ve türleri tartışılmıştır. Tezin üçüncü bölümünde teorik tartışmalar gözden geçirilmiş, güncel konular ve idari kapasitedeki yeni eğilimler çeşitli idari yaklaşımlar ışığında ele alınmıştır. Tezin sonuç kısmında ise idari kapasite konusu kuramsal açıdan değerlendirilmiştir. Anahtar Sözcükler Kapasite, Devlet Kapasitesi, İdari Kapasite, Kapasite Geliştirme, Siyasa Kapasitesi

Leach and Wilson (2002) identified four key tasks of local government leaders. Building on their initiative, this paper examines the task of developing strategic and policy direction at the Icelandic local level from the viewpoint of the Icelandic mayor. In addition, it explores the administrative capacity of Icelandic local governance. Individuals occupying mayoral positions in Iceland always serve as heads of administration. At times, mayors are council members (political mayors), while other times they are hired based on their professional skills (manager-mayors). The findings suggest that mayors of both types play crucial roles in long-term policy making. However, the study shows that the daily work of manager-mayors is often hindered by fragmentation and lack of specialisation within the administration as well as by the laymen rule upon which the council-committee system is based., Ritrýnt tímarit

This document contains the synopsis of activities and outcomes of Work Package 4 of INTENSSS-PA. It describes the methods and approach that were used, and it presents two main building blocks that constituted the experiential learning related to Integrated Sustainable Energy Planning (ISEP). The dynamic development of the project demanded a fair degree of flexibility of all partners, also those who were involved in organizing and capturing the learning experiences. The initial project approach, and the revised logic behind WP4, are described in section 2. Here we justify why we had to deviate from the initial approach, and how we ensured that we would nevertheless deliver the agreed outcomes. Then we continue by providing a brief overview of the learning experiences that took place within the Regional Living Labs (RLL’s) of INTENSSS-PA. In section 3 we present the first Building Block, which mainly relates to the content of the planning activities in the RLL’s. In section 4 we present the second Building Block, which mainly relates to the RLL approach as a process and what one can learn and earn from working in this way. The brief overview of the results was presented to the project partners during the final partner meeting of the project in Regione Calabria on June 28 2018. Here the project partners acknowledged the validity of the findings we presented. Therefore, we are confident to state that the results in this report are supported by the people who ran the RLL’s. Per sub-topic we have distilled a ‘key learning’. These key learnings can help INTENSSS-PA project partners to take their future ventures further, and support colleagues who are interested in working with a Regional Living Lab approach. Furthermore, other professionals and organizations can use these learnings to improve their projects or their regular everyday work. All in all, this document provides insights into how to run a Regional Living Lab for Integrated Sustainable Energy Planning. It shows what one can learn from this, and how one can capture this experiential learning. We hope that professionals and organizations in other (national) contexts will benefit from the experiences from INTENSSS-PA.

This document contains the synopsis of activities and outcomes of Work Package 4 of INTENSSS-PA. It describes the methods and approach that were used, and it presents two main building blocks that constituted the experiential learning related to Integrated Sustainable Energy Planning (ISEP). The dynamic development of the project demanded a fair degree of flexibility of all partners, also those who were involved in organizing and capturing the learning experiences. The initial project approach, and the revised logic behind WP4, are described in section 2. Here we justify why we had to deviate from the initial approach, and how we ensured that we would nevertheless deliver the agreed outcomes. Then we continue by providing a brief overview of the learning experiences that took place within the Regional Living Labs (RLL’s) of INTENSSS-PA. In section 3 we present the first Building Block, which mainly relates to the content of the planning activities in the RLL’s. In section 4 we present the second Building Block, which mainly relates to the RLL approach as a process and what one can learn and earn from working in this way. The brief overview of the results was presented to the project partners during the final partner meeting of the project in Regione Calabria on June 28 2018. Here the project partners acknowledged the validity of the findings we presented. Therefore, we are confident to state that the results in this report are supported by the people who ran the RLL’s. Per sub-topic we have distilled a ‘key learning’. These key learnings can help INTENSSS-PA project partners to take their future ventures further, and support colleagues who are interested in working with a Regional Living Lab approach. Furthermore, other professionals and organizations can use these learnings to improve their projects or their regular everyday work. All in all, this document provides insights into how to run a Regional Living Lab for Integrated Sustainable Energy Planning. It shows what one can learn from this, and how one can capture this experiential learning. We hope that professionals and organizations in other (national) contexts will benefit from the experiences from INTENSSS-PA.

While it is recognized that effective state institutions are pivotal for economic development, it is not well understood what their origins are and what explains their cross-country differences. We focus on budget institutions in developing economies, as efficient public finance planning in such countries is crucial for public goods and services provision. We argue that political institutions, seen as stronger system of checks and balances on the executive, are a key ingredient to build such capacity. Exploiting a recent database on public financial management performance in developing economies and an Instrumental Variable strategy, we generally find that stronger constraints on the executive have a positive effect on the ability of states to design, implement and monitor the budget. Our findings are robust to different specifications, controls, and estimation methods.

This project presents a novel integrated dataset with geospatial information and indicators of local governments in Chile between 2010 and 2022.

Avrupa Birliği, aday ülkelerden topluluk müktesebatını üstelenebilmeleri ve rekabetçi yapılarını güçlendirebilmeleri için kurumsal kapasitelerini geliştirmelerini istemektedir. Aday ülkeler ise Avrupa Birliği mevzuatını kendi yasalarına uyarlamak ve uygulanmasını sağlamak durumundadır. Türkiye'de de bu anlayış doğrultusunda kurumsal kapasitenin nasıl değerlendirileceği Kamu İdarelerince Hazırlanacak Faaliyet Raporları Hakkında Yönetmelik ile düzenlenmiştir. Vatandaşın en çok irtibat kurduğu ve hizmetlerinde yararlandığı kamu kurumları olan belediyeler açısından kurumsal kapasite kriterleri daha da büyük önem kazanmaktadır. Bu sebeple Ankara ili sınırları içerisinde yer alan üç eski metropol ilçe belediyesi ile daha sonra Büyükşehir Belediyesi hizmet alanına dahil edilmiş olan üç ilçe belediyesi meclis üyeleri, üst yöneticileri, çalışanlarına anket uygulanmış bunun yanı sıra kent sakinlerine de yerel hizmet kalitesi ile ilgili olarak sorular sorularak yerel yönetimlerin hizmet kalitesi değerlendirilmiştir. The European Union wants candidate countries to improve their institutional capacities so that they can take the acquis communautaire and strengthen their competitive structures. Candidate countries must ensure that the legislation of the European Union is adopted and enforced by their own legislation. In Turkey, how the institutional capacity will be assessed in line with this understanding is regulated by the Regulation on Activity Reports to be Prepared in Public Administrations. Institutional capacity criteria gain even more importance in terms of municipalities, which are the public institutions that citizens most contact and use in their services. For this reason, three old metropolitan municipalities located within the boundaries of Ankara province and three municipal councillors, senior managers, and employees who were later included in the service area of the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality were asked to make inquiries about their local service quality The service quality of the local governments has been measured. 195

Kamu politikası yapım sürecine çeşitli unsurlar etkide bulunur. Uluslararası örgütler de bu sürece etki eden en önemli unsurlardan birisidir. Gelişmemiş veya gelişmekte olan ülkelerin kamu politikası yapım sürecinde etkin olan bu aktörler, Türkiye'deki kamu politikası yapım sürecinde de aynı şekilde etkili olmaktadır. Uluslararası kuruluşlar, bu faaliyetlerini çeşitli projelerle sürdürmektedir. Son noktada uygulanmakta olan proje ise kurumsal kapasite geliştirmedir. Çalışma bu kapsamda kurumsal kapasite geliştirme çalışmalarının işleyişini ele alarak, kavramı kamu politikaları çerçevesinde irdelemektedir. Ayrıca, kapasite geliştirme kavramının bir kamu politikası olarak uygulanabilirliğini tespit etmeye çalışmaktadır. Bu doğrultuda, bu çalışma ilk olarak kamu politikası kavramı açıklanmaktadır. Sonrasında ise kurumsal kapasite geliştirme kavramını irdelenmektedir. Çalışmanın araştırma kısmında anket uygulamasına gidilmiş ve Sayıştay'da yürütülmekte olan kurumsal kapasite geliştirme çalışmaları analiz edilerek hipotezler test edilmiştir. Çalışmada ulaşılan sonuç ise kurumsal kapasite geliştirme çalışmalarının kurumların kaynaklarıyla yürütülmesi gerektiği, organizasyonların kapasitelerini artırmak için faydalı olduğu ve uygulanabilir bir kamu politikası olduğudur. Anahtar Kelimeler: Kamu Politikası, Kurumsal Kapasite Geliştirme, Uluslararası Örgütler, Gelişmemiş Ülkeler, Gelişmekte Olan Ülkeler. Policy-making process is influenced by many factors. International organizations are one of these factors in this process. The factors efficient in public policy making process both on underdeveloped or undeveloped countries, have similar influences on Turkey's public policy making process, as well. International organizations apply these operations with various projects. The project implemented at the last point is called institutional capacity development. This study analyzes the operations of institutional capacity development processes within the framework of public policy. The study also tests the applicability of institutional capacity developmenting terms of public policy. Accordingly, first the concept of public policy is defined, and then the concept of institutional capacity development is explained. In order to examine the efficiency of institutional capacity development activities, which were held in Turkish Court of Accounts and tested the hypotheses, the questionnaire was administrated to 421 working members of Court of Accounts. Consequently, it is concluded that the institutional capacity development activities need to be carried out by the organization's own resources. It is also concluded that these activities are useful to increase the capacity of organizations and applicable projects in terms of public policy. Key Words: Public Policy, Institutional Capacity Development, International Organizations, Underdeveloped Countries, Undeveloped Countries 190

This article presents a summary of the E-Learning which is gaining significant interest in distance education, including reforming political, social and economical developing in Albanian government reforms and other details. It also gets a special importance in terms of exchanging experiences between different institutions within and outside the country. Despite the distance people already have the opportunity to learn from others, or used in any other time and place that they are. These advantages are powered by technological developments, developments that require a whole generation as qualified to be adopted in time with the rapid technologic evolutions. The advantages of using e- learning are related to the degree of qualification of the generation which live in an era of rapid technological change. Albania's decentralization laws have begun to yield local governments that function independently of the central government, but authority remains overwhelmingly concentrated in the central government, while local service coverage is still spotty and weak. USAID seeks to consolidate decentralization by helping cities design sustainable management plans that yield higher quality services and by helping policymakers at all levels harmonize decentralization laws and regulations.

Ethiopia is a highly decentralized country. Presently, sub-national government taxes and revenues account for about 28 percent of general taxes and revenues, and sub-national expenditures amount to 51 percent of general government expenditures. The ensuing vertical mismatch is bridged by grants from the Federal government to the regions. Presently, these grants account for 57 percent of sub-national expenditures1. For many years, these grants consisted mostly of a block grant (the Federal General Purpose Grant) given without any strings attached, which means the regions could use it as they wished. The rest of the report is organized as follows. Section two provides the policy context that is the information, data, evolutions, etc. specific to Ethiopia, which are necessary to understand and interpret the MDGs grant policy. Section three present and discusses the policy content that is the components of the policy previously identified. Section four is a policy assessment, which utilizes the evaluation framework proposed above to analyze the relationships between the various components of the policy, and discuss its efficiency, its effectiveness and its success. Section five is a conclusion that summarizes the analysis, and attempts, prudently and modestly, to outline some potential avenues for future action.

This article argues that although Greek membership has produced results in terms of democratization and political stability, the Greek economy has not fared as well despite large infusions of EU sums. The main reasons for this outcome are: 1) institutional divergence between Greece and its European partners; 2) lack of Greek administrative capacity; and 3) the inability to come up with a concrete vision of what Greece’s membership would mean for the country. We argue that in adapting to the European acquis the Greeks paid more attention to the letter of the law than to the spirit. For domestic political reasons, administrative reforms never really took hold and were put off by successive governments. Finally, the post-democratization culture was pushed forward by a political party that did not buy into EU membership (at least initially) and that for domestic reasons co-opted its democratic partners into building a welfare state the country could not afford. The Greek case illustrates the point that without a robust economic plan stemming from membership, democratization may succeed but membership will ultimately fail. Cet article affirme que même si l’adhésion de la Grèce à l’Europe a produit des résultats positifs en termes de démocratisation et de stabilité politique, l’économie grecque n’en a pas profité pour autant, et ce, en dépit de l’injection de fortes sommes de la part de l’Union européenne. Les principales raisons tiennent à 1) la divergence institutionnelle entre la Grèce et ses partenaires européens, 2) l’absence de capacités administratives en Grèce et 3) l’incapacité de produire une vision concrète de ce que l’appartenance de la Grèce à l’Europe pourrait signifier pour le pays. Nous soutenons qu’en s’adaptant aux acquis européens, les Grecs ont prêté plus d’attention à la lettre qu’à l’esprit de la législation. Pour des raisons qui tiennent à la politique intérieure, les réformes administratives n’ont jamais été vraiment adoptées et ont été remises à plus tard gouvernement après gouvernement. Enfin, le climat culturel qui a suivi la démocratisation a été alimenté par un parti politique qui, du moins au début, ne s’est pas investi dans l’appartenance européenne et qui, pour des raisons de politique intérieure, a récupéré ses partenaires démocratiques en construisant un modèle social dit du Welfare state que le pays ne pouvait pas se permettre. Le cas grec démontre que sans un programme économique solide arrimé à l’appartenance européenne, la démocratisation peut réussir, mais l’appartenance est destinée en dernière instance à l’échec.

В данной выпускной квалификационной работе рассматривается административная правоспособность и административная дееспособность граждан и юридических лиц, рассматриваются такие разделы как субъекты административного права и их правовой статус, органы исполнительной власти и государственные служащие и правовые основы их деятельности, административная правосубъектность государственных и негосударственных организаций. В работе исследуется такие субъекты административного права, как российские граждане, иностранные граждане и лица без гражданства, определяется понятие, признаки и принципы органов исполнительной власти, в том числе Правительства Российской Федерации, и административно-правовой государственных служащих, а также понятие и виды организаций, являющихся юридическими лицами и их правосубъектность., In this final qualification work administrative legal capacity and administrative capacity to act of citizens and legal entities is considered, such sections as subjects of the administrative right and their legal status, executive bodies and government employees and the legal basis of their activities, administrative legal personality of the state and non-state organizations are considered. In work it is researched such subjects of the administrative right as the Russian citizens, foreign citizens and stateless persons, the concept, signs and the principles of executive bodies, including the Governments of the Russian Federation, and administrative and legal the government employees, and also a concept and organization types who are legal entities and their legal personality is determined.

Bu çalışmanın amacı, İç Anadolu Bölgesi'nde nüfusu 100.000 - 250.000 arasında yer alan orta ölçekli belediyelerin mevcut yönetsel kapasitelerini değerlendirmektir. Çalışmada, 'belediyelerin kendilerine verilen hizmetleri yerine getirmelerini sağlayacak fiziksel, finansal, insan ve bilgi kaynaklarını düzenleme, geliştirme ve yönetme yeteneği' olarak tanımlanan yönetsel kapasite kavramı İç Anadolu Bölgesi'nde araştırmaya konu olan belediyelerde, belediye yöneticileri ile gerçekleştirilen mülakatlar, yöneticilerin algılarını ölçen anket çalışması ve belediyelerden elde edilen çeşitli veriler çerçevesinde değerlendirilmiştir., The main aim of this study is to analyze the concept of "administrative capacity" in municipalities, and to detect the level of administrative capacity of the mediumscale municipalities with population size between 100.000-250.000 in Central Anatolia Region. The concept of administrative capacity is defined as 'municipalities' ability to regulate, develop and manage the physical, financial, human and information resources allocated to them for offering their services'. Data was collected from sample municipalities located in Central Anatolia Region of Turkey through interviews with municipal leaders, questionnaires about their perceptions and within the scope of various information obtained municipalities.

Our paper proposes a comparative analysis of the degree of administrative and financial decentralization in the European countries. Decoupling local government from a centralized system to a decentralized one involved with their investment decision-making powers backed by important financial resources. Increased local government capacity and accountability meant the effective and efficient management and administration of local public funds. However, most times their own financial resources proved insufficient leading to completion of the budget amounts. Our research shows that, although legally the local authorities were entrusted with decision-making powers in managing local public funds, lack of financial resources makes their dependence on central authority are still extremely strong.

Based on the review of literature, the paper shows that absorption problems regarding EU Structural Funds may be important. The topic of the paper is the question of how to measure the administrative capacities of some Candidate Countries for Structural Funds. There will be described a suitable methodology for calculating the administrative absorption capacity of Candidate Countries, with accent on Romania’s case. By calculating the key indicators, the paper offers some preliminary statements regarding the administrative capacity in a particular new Member State. Thus, the paper is an ex-ante assessment of administrative absorption capacity, very useful for the next period.

Social protection schemes can contribute to poverty reduction objectives pursued through current community-driven development (CDD) platforms in Myanmar by building household and community resilience. In turn, existing CDD platforms provide viable options to promote a transition to government-led social protection delivery. Making infrastructure development more pro-poor andproviding communities with an expanded menu of options, including social protection schemes, can be a first step in enhancing the poverty reduction potential of CDD platforms.

Defining appropriate institutional and financing arrangements is crucial to achieve sustainable social protection in Myanmar. This will require setting up overarching coordination mechanisms, with strong political leadership at the union level complemented by a more prominent role for region/state governments and local-level structures in social protection programming, financing, and delivery. This will lead to an effective and sustainable social protection system that addresses local priorities and increases accountability to citizens.

This article examines the effect of water pricing policies on farmers’ water saving behaviors, using original water user group (WUG) data from a reservoir irrigation system in China. The introduction of volumetric water pricing at the group level, to replace area-based pricing, induces institutional change to prevent each member’s overuse of water when the volumetric price levels are moderate. Depending on the initial conditions, the multiple pathways of change lead to new institutional arrangements, with all of them contributing to water savings. However, when the price is set high enough, many farmers exit a WUG for private irrigation. This tendency is associated with an increased probability that the remaining members do not undertake institutional change and that they do not end up saving water. This may be due to the increased management difficulties among the remaining members whose fields are separated by former members who have now opted out for private irrigation across the WUG. As a result, we do not find evidence that the reservoir water is saved at high volumetric price levels.

The roll-out of devolution has been formally underway since March 2013 when county governments were established under the 2010 Constitution. The period under review is April 2013 to June 2014, which enables observations of public engagement in preparation of the 2013-2014 county budgets (between April-June 2013) and the 2014-2015 county budgets (between September 2013-June 2014). This paper reviews initial county initiatives on public participation and possible interventions to improve the overall design and implementation of participatory systems going forward.

U prvom dijelu rada definira se pojam upravnog kapaciteta, koji se u upravnoj teoriji promatra kroz niz komponenata. Upozorava se na razliku između upravnog kapaciteta u užem i širem smislu. U radu se u fokus stavlja personalna komponenta upravnog kapaciteta organizacije. U sklopu istraživanja provedena je analiza broja zaposlenih državnih službenika i namještenika u hrvatskim ministarstvima te njihova obrazovna struktura. Također se analizira politizacija kroz broj i strukturu državnih dužnosnika i političkih savjetnika u ministarstvima. Kroz provedene polustrukturirane intervjue dobiven je uvid u stavove i percepcije zaposlenih u upravi te ljudi izvan upravnog sustava koji su surađivali s ministarstvima., The first part of this paper defines the term of administrative capacity, which is viewed in administrative theory through a range of components. It points out the difference between administrative capacities in the narrow and in the broad sense. The paper focuses on the personnel component of an organisation’s administrative capacity. As part of the study, an analysis was carried out of the number of employed civil servants and employees in Croatian ministries and of their educational structure. Politicisation is also analysed through the number and structure of state officials and political advisors in ministries. Semi-structured interviews provide an insight into the positions and perceptions of those employed in public administration, and of persons outside the administrative system who have cooperated with ministries.

Uno de los principales atributos de la gobernanza es la transparencia en las cuentas públicas (Kim, 2007); es por ello que en México el tema de la transparencia ha estado presente en las agendas públicas, sin embargo, los resultados no han sido los esperados. El objetivo de este trabajo es determinar la relación que existe entre la capacidad administrativa y la transparencia en los municipios de Yucatán, estado de México. Los resultados comprueban que sí existe una relación significativa, alta y positiva, entre estas dos variables, por lo que se confirma la necesidad de llevar a cabo acciones que fortalezcan las capacidades administrativas locales para lograr las metas planeadas., One of the main attributes of gobernance is the accountability of public finances (Kim, 2007). That is why in Mexico, this topic has been part of the public agendas; however, the results have not been satisfactory. The goal of this articule is to determine the relationship that exists between the administrative capacity and transparency in Yucatan's municipalities. The results show that there exists an important relationship between these two variables so there is a need to strengthen the local administrative capacities so they are not a barrier to achieve our goals.

This report explores the potential financing mechanism options that can be employed to catalyze more private sector investment in clean energy (renewable energy and energy efficiency) in the small island developing states (SIDS). Various financial instruments that have been used successfully to date are described and placed in the context of the issues and constraints of the SIDS, with suggested options for discussion and follow up. Green infrastructure finance, as defined in the report, makes the important point that is the combination of financial and nonfinancial interventions and instruments that can make green investments in infrastructure more affordable and less risky to private sponsors, financial markets, and governments. The objective of this report is to identify and assess options that can help increase investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency in SIDS through the adoption and funding of financing mechanisms by SIDS and development partners with special attention given to the role that the private sector can play. Many renewable energy technologies are characterized by high initial capital costs with relatively low operating costs compared to thermal alternatives. By providing an analysis of options for a financing facility to catalyze renewable energy and energy efficiency, this work is intended to inform the discussions among SIDS and development partners interested in actions to stimulate investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency. This report summarizes the results of the two stages. The assessment and selection of options identifies a number of measures that will be needed to stimulate increased private sector participation - project sponsors and developers, equity funds, lending institutions - for energy efficiency and renewable energy. The background material reviewed for this report has been summarized in the annexes.

Salou is a highly specialized tourist resort on the Spanish Mediterranean Coast, located a hundred kilometres south of Barcelona. Within its narrow boundaries of 1.481 ha, Salou hosts 7.4 million overnight stays per year and is home to 52 hotels. Our case study, the area of Avinguda Carles Buigas (CB), which is today the heart of the tourism and leisure industry in the municipality of Salou, was developed during the sixties and seventies as a result of the increasing demand for sun and beach destinations among the European and Spanish middle class. Its hotel density is significant, accounting for 28 out of the total of 52 in the town. Forty years on, the site requires some review due to evidence of urban degradation. Initial analysis has focused on three areas: common space, hotel facilities, and commercial and leisure activities. The results have shown a lack of public and private investment within the area, and a risk of obsolescence of the urban and tourism model. The hotel facilities have not been redeveloped or renovated since their initial development, other than essential maintenance work. Moreover, commercial activities have grown out of control as a result of an increasing demand for specialized leisure and night activities.

Opening accession negotiations on European Union membership leads to new possibilities of cross- border cooperation between Croatia and Serbia. This article analyses institutional and economic challenges of Serbia towards EU integrations based on Croatia’s experience. The role of sub regional economic cooperation is examined within the context of IPA funds. The main goal of the article is to determine the way that IPA funds could contribute to economic development, increase in employment rates and boosting the competitiveness level of cross- border regions. The authors will try to evaluate preconditions necessary for successful cooperation and attempt to draw conclusions and policy implications from the previous IPA funds experiences between Croatia and Serbia. As Croatia has participated in cross- border programmes with Hungary, Slovenia and Italy since 2003, it gathered the necessary level of experience and built the adequate capacities that could help the partners in Serbia.

U članku se razmatra pitanje implementacijskog kapaciteta javnih uprava u četiri zemlje Srednje Europe: Sloveniji, Češkoj Republici, Mađarskoj i Poljskoj. Autor polazi od pretpostavke da poteškoće s implementacijom variraju u različitim sektorima, odnosno da proces tranzicije i europeizacije s jedne strane ima homogenizacijski učinak među različitim zemljama, dok s druge strane dovodi do visokog stupnja varijance među različitim sektorima, pri čemu odražava zadatke koji se dodjeljuju svakom tipu javne uprave. Ta se pretpostavka nastoji empirijski testirati, tako da se poteškoće s implementacijom tretiraju kao ovisna varijabla, uz razlikovanje dijela javne uprave koji ima proizvodne funkcije od onog dijela koji ima regulacijske zadatke. Jednak broj i tipovi poteškoća s implementacijom ukazuju na to da su one povezane s procesom tranzicije i europeizacije, a ne s nacionalnim ili sektorskim kontekstom. Rasprava se nastoji dopuniti analizom općih obrazaca doživljenih poteškoća s implementacijom., The paper is dealing with the implementation capacity of public administration in four Central European countries: Slovenia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. The author’s point of departure is that implementation diffi culties vary between sectors, i.e., that the process of transition and Europeanization on the one hand has a homogenizing eff ect between the countries, while on the other it generates a high level of variance across sectors, refl ecting the tasks assigned to each type of administration. An empirical test of this hypothesis is attempted: implementation diffi culties are treated as the dependent variable and distinction is made between the administrations that have production functions and the ones that have regulatory tasks. The discussion is supplemented with an analysis of the general patterns of experienced implementation diffi culties.

Este trabajo pretende analizar la epizootia de fiebre aftosa del invierno británico de 2001 desde el enfoque de la ciencia post-normal. Serán analizadas las participaciones de los diferentes actores sociales y las interacciones de las categorías: confianza, gobernanza, incertidumbre, valores e intereses. Todos estos factores formaron parte de una crisis que, por un lado, conjugó los intereses políticos de un gobierno en campaña electoral junto con los intereses económicos de un estado miembro de la Unión Europea y por el otro, los intereses de la población afectada junto con todos aquellos problemas relacionados con la salud y el medio ambiente. Las medidas tomadas para detener esta enfermedad 'económica' se transformaron en un verdadero experimento heterogéneo a gran escala social, un fenómeno típico de la modernidad que exige nuevas formas de abordar la ciencia y los procesos decisorios.This article aims at analyzing foot-and-mouth disease in the 2001 British winter according to post-normal science. We have analyzed the participation of different social agents and the interaction among the following categories: trust, reliability, administrative capacity, uncertainty, values and objectives. All these factors were part of a crisis that, on one hand assembled the political objectives of a government during campaign and the economic objectives of a European Union country, and on the other hand the needs of the population, affected by all the problems related to health and the environment. The steps taken to hold up this 'economic' disease became a really heterogeneous experiment in a large social scale, a typical phenomenon in modern times that demands new approaches to science and decision-making processes.

Este trabalho mostra os resultados de uma observação empírica nos Núcleos da Defensoria da Região Metropolitana de Belém e nos Núcleos dos municípios de Marabá e Santarém, no Pará. Com algumas modificações, inspira-se na ideia de sistemas autorreferenciais proposta por Niklas Luhmann. A observação de primeiro grau operacionalizada a partir de questionários tem por objetivo analisar a capacidade institucional-administrativa da Defensoria Pública, partindo de um esquema formado pela convergência de diversos conceitos teóricos para a observação e compreensão das organizações públicas. A observação de segundo grau é operacionalizada a partir de entrevistas semiestruturadas. En este trabajo se exponen los resultados de una observación empírica realizada en los Núcleos de la Defensoría Pública en la Región Metropolitana de Belém, y en los Núcleos de los municipios de Marabá y Santarém. Aunque con modificaciones, se inspira en la idea de sistemas autorreferenciales propuesta por Niklas Luhmann. La observación elemental se operacionaliza con cuestionarios, con el objetivo de analizar la capacidad institucional y administrativa de la Defensoría Pública, partiendo de una estructura formada por la convergencia de diversos conceptos teóricos de observación y de comprensión de las organizaciones públicas. La observación de segundo grado se operacionaliza a partir de entrevistas semiestructuradas. This paper presents the results of an empirical observation in the Nuclei of the Public Defender Office in the Metropolitan Region of Belém and in the Nuclei in the towns of Marabá and Santarém, in Pará, Brazil. With some modifications, it is inspired by the idea of self-referential systems proposed by Niklas Luhmann. The first-degree observation operationalized through questionnaires aims to analyze the institutional and administrative capacity of the Public Defender Office, starting from a scheme formed by the convergence of various theoretical concepts for observing and grasping public organizations. The second-degree observation is operationalized through semi-structured interviews.

The issue of economies of scale in many local services leads to amalgamation reforms that should provide economic viability for local governments. Larger local governments thus should be able to provide more functions, which may lead to more public interest and participation in local politics. However, many countries have small local governments, pursuing advantages of smallness. Slovenia is one of them. Slovenian municipalities are about average size in comparison to European Union average, but are extremely heterogeneous in size. The smallest local governments have to provide all local tasks and services stipulated by law as the largest ones. Although it seems that the main problem of the Slovene municipalities is their size, or at least of the majority of them, there are some indices that this could be overcome without amalgamation. This paper explores entrepreneurial ethos of directors of municipal administrations, coupled with informatization of the municipal administrations and state financial support for merging municipal administrations, that could be the important features in overcoming the problem of municipality size. The paper concludes that Slovenian municipal administrations are still very understaffed since the number of current employees does not suit the range of tasks they have to perform, whereby municipalities are aware of the limited employment prospects. The use of modern organisational and administrative tools in Slovenian municipal administrations has not yet become a permanent feature of the majority of municipalities, while communication with citizens through e-tools is slowly becoming a standard. The only visible entrepreneurial principle is the consideration of citizens’ suggestions in the management of a municipality as the directors hold on to the classical bureaucratic stance on other issues., Pitanje ekonomije obujma u mnogim je lokalnim službama dovelo do okrupnjavanja lokalnih jedinica koje bi trebalo osigurati njihovu ekonomsku održivost. Veće lokalne jedinice tako bi trebale obavljati više poslova, što bi moglo potaknuti veći interes javnosti za lokalne političke prilike i sudjelovanje u lokalnoj politici. Međutim, mnoge države pa i Slovenija imaju malene lokalne jedinice te žele iskoristiti prednosti koje takva struktura pruža. Slovenske su lokalne jedinice prosječne veličine ako se usporede s prosjekom Europske unije, ali im je veličina ekstremno heterogena. Najmanje jedinice moraju obavljati sve lokalne poslove i pružati iste zakonom propisane usluge kao i najveće jedinice. Iako se čini da je glavni problem većine slovenskih lokalnih jedinica njihova veličina, postoje određene indikacije da se taj problem može prevladati spajanjem. U radu se istražuje poduzetnički duh direktora lokalnih upravnih organizacija kao i informatizacija općinskih uprava te državna potpora spajanju općinskih uprava, što su važna pitanja koja bi mogla pomoći prevladavanju problema malih općina. Zaključuje se da u slovenskim općinskim upravama još uvijek nedostaje osoblja, budući da trenutačni broj službenika ne odgovara rasponu poslova koje moraju obavljati, a s druge su strane općine svjesne ograničenih mogućnosti zapošljavanja. Moderni organizacijski i upravni alati još se ne primjenjuju u većini slovenskih općinskih uprava, dok komunikacija s građanima putem e-alata ipak polako postaje standardom. Jedino poduzetničko načelo koje se pojavljuje jest razmatranje prijedloga građana koji se tiču upravljanja lokalnom jedinicom. Direktori lokalnih upravnih organizacija u ostalim se pitanjima drže klasičnog birokratskog stava.