Activitites in 2008
Coordinators:
Emilia Sičáková-Beblavá, Institute of Public Policy, Comenius University, Transparency International Slovakia, Bratislava, Slovakia
Katarína Staroňová, Institute of Public Policy, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
Discussant: Ronald Maclean Abaroa, World Bank
Place: The16th NISPAcee Annual Conference, Bratislava, Slovakia
Date: May 15-17, 2008
The coordinators of the WG on Public Sector Transparency invited
contributions for its meeting at the NISPAcee conference 2008 on the
theme:
"Anti-corruption measures in policy making"
Call for papers 2008
This working group focused on the use of policy instruments (legal,
information, economic and administrative) with anti-corruption
strategies in a transformation economy. The main aim was to analyse the
factors that lead to successful implementation of anti-corruption
measures: from their inceptions, struggle over time, to their
maintenance and sustainability in practice. The ultimate aim of the
research papers was to map anti-corruption measures from the perspective
of policy instruments that have been introduced in transition countries
during the years 1995-2006. The focus was on all types of public
administrating institutions, ranging from central institutions
(ministries and specialised agencies) to self–governments at regional
and local levels, judiciary etc.
The working group session began with a discussion on the classification of
anti-corruption tools from the perspective of policy instruments
stressing legal, information, economic and administrative tools. As for
the information tools, eight papers were presented and discussed. They
focused on the implementation of access to information acts in Slovakia
and Poland, lobbying, transparency of political party financing,
participation of central and local in the decision-making process, the
use of web sites by local governments as well as the use of annual
reports to increase the transparency of the central government level.
Within the framework of economic anti-corruption tools, the
anti-corruption effects of the 2004 active labour market policy reform
in Slovakia was discussed.
The approach to corruption by the utilisation of
economic tools was also discussed in concrete practice in Columbia and
Romania. Both presentations stressed the importance of leadership and
anti-corruption education of local leaders who have the power to
implement and enforce anti-corruption tools. Also two anti-corruption
administrative tools were presented – the institute of special courts
and court management.
The working group concluded with a discussion on anti-corruption tools.
Last,
but not least, is the issue of sustainability. We found that the level
of controversy is not a good guide to sustainability of the reforms.
Surprisingly, the ideologically charged changes have high levels of
sustainability even when they were initially controversial and the steps
that have proven to be less sustainable are those where specific
interest groups remain opposed and where the reform has not managed to
create a powerful constituency in favour of the new status quo.
This Working group was supported by the
Slovak Research and Development Agency.