Annex 14:

3-1PR: Assessing the Implementation of the Decentralization Process in Albania: the Case of the City of Elbasan

1. Project description

2.  Project purposes and goals 

The project proposal states that before the 1990s, local governments in Albania were in essence deconcentrated governance. In other words, ministries and other arms of the government operating on the local level represented central authority, but had very limited decision-making power. Politically autonomous bodies were first set up in 1992, but it was not until the adoption of a new Constitution in 1998 that decentralized governance was properly defined. 

Decentralization is a question of high priority in Albania, and today there a general political consensus about the decentralization process and its goals. However, seven years after the implementation of decentralization in Albania, the process is moving rather slowly, with little progress to indicate that sustainable public services are being provided in the quantity and quality needed. 

Because of this, one of main project goals was to try to find the main purposes of this slow progress by answering of following questions:

·          How do local governments in Albania understand their new role in a decentralized structure?

·          How are local governments coping with increased responsibilities resulting from decentralization?

·          What capacity exists at the local government levels to enable them to assume the new responsibilities?  What are the gaps?

·          What is the quality and quantity of public services provided by local governments?

·          How do citizens perceive the quality and quantity of public services provided by local governments?

·          How can local governments enhance their capacity to deliver public services in a sustainable, efficient and effective manner?

·          What training needs do local governments have? Are these needs the same in each local government or are they different?

Gathering of this information through the proposed research will help local government leaders gain a better understanding of the current situation. The new leaders, elected in 2003 were expected, through this project, of deciding how to best use the results of this study to enhance their capacity, and consequently the quantity and quality of public services they provide.

The proposed project was to be implemented in the Municipality of Elbasan in Albania as a joint effort of four institutions: the Elbasan Municipality in Elbasan; the University of Elbasan located in Elbasan, Albania; the Urban Research Institute located in Tirana, Albania; and the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University located in Tallahassee, Florida (USA). Faculty members at the two universities involved in the study will work closely with the practitioners at the Elbasan Municipality and the consultants at the Urban Research Institute to study some issues that are of great interest to local governments in Albania.

Four main tasks were planned to be implemented under the proposed project, as follows:

1.       Conduct Research (main activity);

2.       Conduct workshops to share research results with local government leaders;

3.       Develop short-term and long-term training courses at the University of Elbasan;

4.       Conduct short-term training programs for local government managers at Elbasan.

3. Project realization

No major problems occurred during the project realization of the main goal: conducting of the research. In this phase, the project team cooperated with the government officials, and all team members and other participants actively cooperated in the project, fulfilling their roles and responsibilities on time and with quality work. The research protocol was published as a working document.

4. Project outputs, outcomes and impacts

The main project output is realization of research, including  the study, “Assessing the Implementation of the Decentralization Process in Albania: The Case of the City of Elbasan” that utilized both quantitative and qualitative research methods.  The target population was the households in the City of Elbasan and the employees of the Municipality of Elbasan.  A randomly selected sample of 400 households participated in the survey which was administered by 31 students from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Elbasan.  Student informants were paired and each pair handled an average of 25 questionnaires.  An equal number of households who participated in the study were selected from the five districts of Elbasan. 

The response rate was 87 percent, with 294 households responding to the questionnaire.  Those who did not respond represent households where the informants were not able to find someone to interview after visiting the same household two or three times.

In addition to household surveys, the team also conducted interviews with 21 municipal employees.  These employees were purposively selected based on the departments they represented and their positions within their respective departments. These interviews were conducted by the faculty members from the University of Elbasan. During the interviews, they followed 24 questions that had been developed beforehand. The interviews were conducted at the City Hall in the offices of the individuals interviewed.

The data from the household survey was analyzed by SPSS. The Florida A&M University team members developed the coding scheme and data entry template which was sent to the University of Elbasan faculty to use in entering the data.  The data template was then sent to Florida A&M University for analysis.  The qualitative data from the face-to-face interviews was categorized and analyzed based on Miles and Hubermans’s (1999) criteria of analyzing qualitative data.

The findings of this study were shared with Elbasan’s municipal officials, including the Mayor and City Council members through a one-day workshop conducted at City Hall in Elbasan.  This workshop was attended by 35 individuals. The presentation was made by representatives of the research team comprised of Mr. Ilir Bejtja, lecturer, Faculty of Economics at the University of Elbasan; Ms. Zana Vokopola, Executive Director of the Urban Research Institute; and Dr. Jesse Lutabingwa, Assistant Vice-President for International Education and Development at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.

There were some notable outcomes achieved through this research project. The relationship between the three collaborating institutions (UE, URI and FAMU) has greatly increased. This project, although small in the amount of funds provided, has provided an impetus for exploring other joint research projects. Participants from the three institutions have already agreed to continue working together even after funding for this project has ended.

            The project has also enhanced the collaboration between UE and the City of Elbasan.  This was clearly noted by both the mayor of Elbasan and president of UE in their remarks at the workshop in Elbasan where preliminary findings of the study were shared. The research findings from this study will assist the municipality in the development of its strategic plan.    The relationship between UE and the City of Elbasan has also been enhanced in another strange way.  Based on the feedback received during the data collection, the city would not have been able to collect the data that has been assembled through this study.  When EU students went to collect the data, several citizens initially refused to participate when told that it was a city-sanctioned study.  They thought the students were city employees.  This raised suspicions because the city had never before solicited their opinions.  However, after explaining that the interviewers were students at UE, they became willing to participate in the study.  The city has the opportunity of correcting this image with its citizens and the study has provided the entry point.  It has already been discussed that the study findings will be widely publicized through television so that citizens, especially those who participated in the study, could see these results. 

Additionally, the results have convinced city officials that they need to conduct these kinds of surveys annually to determine how satisfied the citizens are with the services provided by the city.  This is another opportunity for UE and the city to collaborate. Since UE was instrumental in the first citizen survey, it likely that the university will be requested to conduct subsequent surveys.