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Annex 11:

2-1PR: Cooperative Governance Improvement: Developing an Academic Advisor’s Practice for Politicians and Applied Policy Research

 

1. Project description

 

Project number

2-1PR

Project title

Cooperative Governance Improvement: Developing an Academic

Advisor’s Practice for Politicians and Applied Policy Research

Responsible institution

National University Centre “Public Sector Economics”, Bulgaria

Maria Mandajieva

NASPAA partner

University of Nebraska, John Anderson

NISPAcee partner

Institute for Public Administration and European Integration, Bulgaria, Georgiev Manliev

Budget: planned

$12,000 USD

Budget: resources really used

$12,000 USD

Project period:

15.6.2003 – 13.7.2004

 

2.  Project purposes and goals 

 

The project proposal states that during the seminar discussion in the course “How to be a better policy advisor”, held in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, in June 2002 and organized by NISPAcee, a main problem, common to all countries from Kazakhstan and Georgia to Bulgaria and Romania, was defined as follows: How to make (unprepared) politicians seek and listen to advice from academicians?

To cope with this issue the project focused on following aims:

1.       To develop a training course for members of Parliament (Deputies) in Basic Economics and Public Finance in order for the members to be able to assess the need of academic advice, applied policy research and management studies in their work.

2.       To develop a practice of linking government and high education. In the course of the project, deputies will research together with academicians the economic problems of Bulgaria.

3.       As a third stage, after completion of the course, in the months November and December—the time during which the State Budget is accepted—the training team of professors will serve as academic advisors of all deputies who have completed the course. Their salaries will be paid by the project.

 

On the basisof the project realization, deputies can test the benefits of working with an academic advisor and, after completion of the project, initiate such joint work on a regular basis.

The first planned stage was the organization of the training courses, envisaged in two cycles. The first cycle would take place in July (12 days of lectures of four hours each); the second in September-October (24 days of three or four hours per day). The total: 135 hours.

 

The planned courses were:

1.       Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and Public Finance I

2.       Money and Banks, Applied Statistics (or How to read and interpret the data coming from National Statistical Office and the Central Bank) and Public Finance II, Social Policy and Employment, Management of Social Systems.

 

Between the first and second cycles, two seminars were envisaged, two working days each, the first in July; the second in the period of September-October. During these seminars, the members of Parliament planned to speak. In preparation, they would work with a training team of academicians. The topics were applied policy research on the past and present economic policy in Bulgaria.

The third stage was planned after completion of the courses in the months  of November and December, when the state budget of Bulgaria is prepared and adopted. Having earned proficiency in Economics and Public Finance, the members of Parliament (who participated in the course with the academic team of professors) were expected to execute the stage at which applied policy research and management studies would be implemented—only this time, it was for real.

 

3. Project realization

 

No problems occurred during the project realization. The project team actively cooperated with government officials; the project implementation went as planned; the project timeline was kept on target; and all team members and other participants cooperated actively in the project and fulfilled their roles and responsibilities on time and with quality work.

 

4. Project outputs, outcomes and impacts

 

The project aimed at helping capacity-building first in the Parliament of Republic of Bulgaria by increasing the knowledge and awareness of the members of Parliament and their advisors in modern economics, public finance. Engaging deputies and academicians in work groups for applied policy research and management studies meant:

1.       Promoting such a practice for the first time in the Bulgarian Parliament since the beginning of the transition in 1990.

2.       Support of democratic procedures and more efficient spending of public monies. Once deputies get used to such models as the cost-benefit analyses, they will more easily control spending in the state budget. Engaging representatives of local governments will ensure that the same process will be initiated in local budget and local spending.

 

As the tangible output, a very good training course was developed, covering all important Economic Disciplines, namely:

1.       Basic Macroeconomics

2.       Basic Microeconomics

3.       Public Finance I

4.       Money and Banks.

5.       Public Finance II

 

The professors provided professional presentations on the above disciplines. They developed their courses very well. The task of the professors was a challenging one: combining an introductory course with refresher knowledge and to systemize the practical knowledge of the members of Parliament while linking it with modern economic science. As a sequence in the breaks and after the classes, intensive and vivid discussions took place. The training course achieved its results and was beneficial in bringing modern economic knowledge to both the members of the Parliament and their advisors.

The second target of the project was achieved as well. From July 2003 until 14 January 2004 (excluding parliamentary vacations in August and December), the trainers and the members of Parliament were constantly in touch, either in form of lectures or seminars and parliamentary consultations. Two seminars, in July and November, were organized. The topics—“Economic crises in Bulgaria 1996-1997” and “New Management in the Public Sector”—were connected with the adoption of the state budget for 2004.

The third target—developing Academic Consultation—was achieved. It took the form of informal consultations in the Parliament with professors of the training team. In addition, the professors were present at themeetingsof the Budget and Economic Policy Commissions for ad hoc consultations or questions during the discussions between members of Parliament and gembers of government for the adoption of the state budget. 

In addition, another tangible output, a book with teaching materials as suggested by the members of Parliament and their advisors, is under print. Upon their request, the contents of the book will include not only the topics from the training course, but also those covered in the seminars and discussed during the project.

It was not difficult to achieve the main outcome of the project: a good working partnership between members of Parliament and the training team of professors. This was due to the professional attitude of the professors, their good interpersonalskills and their non-partisan answers to questions.

If these friendly and cooperative relations continue, there is considerable potential for enormous impacts via the increased capacity of policy-making in the Bulgarian Parliament.