PA 501: Essentials for Public Management in a Complex Society: Processes, Structures and Values

Civic participation in decision making on local Governments in

Kosovo

Astrit Tafolli

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Kosovo

•Population 1.7 million

•Capital city: Pristina

• Territory: 10,908 km2 (4.203 square miles)

•Ethnic mix 88% Albanian; 7% Serbian; 5% Other

•Official languages: Albanian and Serbian. Turkish, Bosnian and Romany languages have official statues in local governments.

•Independence day: February 17 2008

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Laws on Local government• There are 38 municipalities (local governments) in Kosovo.

• Each local government is administered by a mayor and a local assembly, elected every four years by citizens.

• Citizens of local governments have the right to participate in the activities of their local government.

• Any person may inspect any document held by the Local government

• Local government laws also provide a regular mechanism for information and public consultation: at least twice a year, every local government should organize public meetings

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Laws on Local government

• Laws on Local Government give the right of petition, citizens’ initiatives, as well as local referendum

• But, still local governments in Kosovo remain underdeveloped, weak and dysfunctional.

• Dichotomy between politics and public administration remains the biggest challenge

• Civic participation in decision-making is very low

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Citizens participation in decision-making Participation in public hearings

Participation in decision-making

Consultation of citizen opinions

Public information and outreach

Obiliq Weak Non-existent Weak Non-existent

Podujeva Medium Non-existent Medium Weak

Gjakova Strong Weak Strong Medium

Kamenica Medium Non-existent Medium Weak

Prishtina Medium Weak Weak Medium

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Local governments

• There is a big gap of miscommunication between the local governments and the citizens.

• Local governments fail to serve the citizens. Local governments are often slow to inform the public about different issues.

• Local governments’ websites are often incomplete.

• Public administrations are overloaded and unprofessional. There is a lot of corruption.

• In 2013 only 43.31% of the citizens voted in local elections

Communist legacy is the main problem• Kosovo has been ruled from a communist party for decades under Yugoslavia

• The method of leadership in communiste Yugoslavia is characterized by manipulation and control.

• The totalitarian method of leadership was rooted so deeply in the minds and reflexes of those who lived under communism, that even when communism fell, the people continued to rule with the same abusive methods.

• Another characteristic that makes Kosovo’s institutions dysfunctional is the unrealistic expectation by state.

• In communist countries the law is seen as an obstacle and people tended not to respect the law

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Solutions and Recommendations

• Fundamental solution: Kosovo has to establish a legal state. It is the rule of law that ensures and protects the rights of people not the democracy.

• Recommendations: the strongest recommendation to improve the work on local government in Kosovo would be “The Ten Reinventing Government Principles ” (Reinventing Government by Osborne, D., & Gaebler, T. (1992).

1. Steer, not row (or as Mario Cuomo put it, “it is not government's obligation to provide services, but to see that they're provided”);

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Reference List (Bibliography)

• 2. Empower communities to solve their own problems rather than simply deliver services;

• 3. Encourage competition rather than monopolies

• 4. Be driven by missions, rather than rules;

• 5. Be results-oriented by funding outcomes rather than inputs;

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Reference List

• 6. Meet the needs of the customer, not the bureaucracy; Concentrate on earning money rather than spending it;

• 7. Concentrate on earning money rather than spending it;

8. Invest in preventing problems rather than curing crises;

• 9. Decentralize authority; and

• 10. Solve problems by influencing market forces rather than creating public programs.