Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 14th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview III. Working Group on Strategic Leadership in Central Gov... Author(s) Polya Katsamunska University of National and World Economy Sofia Bulgaria Pavlov Pavel, Title Capacity for policy implementation in the central government of Bulgaria File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Abstract Traditionally, policy making is considered to be the responsibility of political leaders, while translation of political decisions and their implementation is the key function of administration. Policy formulation and implementation require extensive resources, diverse tools and mechanisms for coordination as they are considered to be phases of the same process (Parsons, 1995), but the two key prerequisites for this process are stabilization and institutional consolidation. The experience of CEE countries shows that in the period of transition the capacity for policy formulation and implementation has turned out to be a crucial factor for the transformation of the country and to facilitate this process solid institutional arrangements, not only capacity for political leadership, are strongly required. The review of the Bulgarian development after 15 years of reforms in various sectors (economic, military, social, administrative, etc.), shows that the expertise and managerial experience gathered at the political level do not always lead to better performance. After years of purposeful reforms, the Bulgarian government has not yet acquired the necessary capacity for good policy implementation, which is evident from the regular reports of the European commission on administrative capacity and the evaluations of other outside observers and donors. The paper provides an overview on the capacity for policy implementation of the Bulgarian government and the objective of the paper is to analyze the role and functions the strategic center (the Council of Ministers and its administration) and the mechanisms of interministrial coordination and harmonization. The focus of analysis is placed on the current coalition government and changes in the political leadership after the parliamentary elections of June, 2005 in Bulgaria. The study looks at two stages of analysis. First, it examines the composition of the new government, the key actors and their competition. Changes in the structure of the central executive bodies are outlined and the format of the current government is compared to the one of 2001. The distribution of political posts in the ministries among coalition partners is presented. The role of the prime minister and the functions of the political cabinet are discussed. Next, the organization and efficiency of administrative structures that operate under the Council of Ministers and subordinated to Ministers are analyzed. The mechanisms of interministrial coordination are revealed and the prevailing methods of interministrial coordination and harmonization with other interested parties in the central administration are discussed (bilateral cooperation agreements, consultative and coordinating councils and interministrial working groups). Examples are given and the tendency to set up councils for coordinating and implementing interdepartmental policies at the Council of Ministers is pointed out. The study is based on an extensive review of normative documents regulating the structure and operation of government institution. Other sources of data are the legal databases of the Council of Ministers (2001-2005) and the Annual reports of the State Administration (2002-2004) that provide information about the organization and efficiency of public administration structures. In addition, the analysis and conclusions are based on findings from personal observations and interviews with members of parliament, governmental officials and civil servants in different level of state administration.
