Despite numerous attempts to transform Swedish older adult care, similar problems regarding its coordination have persisted over the years. This literature review aims to identify which coordination mechanisms can be perceived as the alleged culprit of poor coordination of integrated health and social services for seriously ill older individuals in Sweden between 2000 and 2022. Classical and contemporary coordination theories are utilised to pinpoint these coordination mechanisms, and the analysis is based on the content of collected articles from this thematic area. This literature review reveals that the following coordination mechanisms are perceived as the primary cause of poor coordination in older adult care: (1) plans, programmes, rules, and standardised work processes. Research has confirmed that decentralisation, the autonomy of regional and local authorities, new regulations implemented in the spirit of NPM, and double principalship have hindered care integration for seriously ill older adults; (2) roles, standardisation of skills, and direct supervision. Neither organisational principal adequately addresses excess employee workloads and an insufficient number of employees providing care services, which generates stress, conflicts, and even occupational burnout among staff. They do not prioritise staff competency development; (3) proximity, feedback, and adjustments through mutual communication. Most studies have shown that communication among staff is crucial to achieving integration, but it could be more effective among staff members involved in providing care. Knowledge about “objects and representations” and “routines and standardisation of outcomes” is somewhat limited and deserves further research.
{"title":"The Alleged Culprit of Poor Coordination of Integration of Health and Social Care Services for Very Ill Older Persons in Sweden, 2000-2022","authors":"Iwona Sobis","doi":"10.2478/nispa-2023-0019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2023-0019","url":null,"abstract":"Despite numerous attempts to transform Swedish older adult care, similar problems regarding its coordination have persisted over the years. This literature review aims to identify which coordination mechanisms can be perceived as the alleged culprit of poor coordination of integrated health and social services for seriously ill older individuals in Sweden between 2000 and 2022. Classical and contemporary coordination theories are utilised to pinpoint these coordination mechanisms, and the analysis is based on the content of collected articles from this thematic area. This literature review reveals that the following coordination mechanisms are perceived as the primary cause of poor coordination in older adult care: (1) plans, programmes, rules, and standardised work processes. Research has confirmed that decentralisation, the autonomy of regional and local authorities, new regulations implemented in the spirit of NPM, and double principalship have hindered care integration for seriously ill older adults; (2) roles, standardisation of skills, and direct supervision. Neither organisational principal adequately addresses excess employee workloads and an insufficient number of employees providing care services, which generates stress, conflicts, and even occupational burnout among staff. They do not prioritise staff competency development; (3) proximity, feedback, and adjustments through mutual communication. Most studies have shown that communication among staff is crucial to achieving integration, but it could be more effective among staff members involved in providing care. Knowledge about “objects and representations” and “routines and standardisation of outcomes” is somewhat limited and deserves further research.","PeriodicalId":43378,"journal":{"name":"NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy","volume":"118 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138690062","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Participatory budgeting (PB) is a modern trend involving citizens in decisions on distributing public resources. Assuming that the identified drawbacks of PB are described as internal and external factors, simple criteria were developed to predict the fate of PB. These criteria reflect stakeholders’ decisions about PB continuation in the future. Using panel data between 2017-2022 from the Czech Republic, it appears that the selected criteria were evaluated as an upgrading process, signalling the continuation of PB. However, this does not mean abandoning the process in the case of downgrading. The results indicate a certain probability for upgrading PB to continue, while the fate of downgrading PB is indeterminate and could depend on other factors. In the case of new governance after an electoral change, using the criteria could help explain the actual situation regarding the interest of stakeholders in PB.
{"title":"Key Criteria Influencing Stakeholders’ Decision-making about PB Continuation: The Case of the Czech Republic","authors":"Soňa Kukučková, Eduard Bakoš","doi":"10.2478/nispa-2023-0015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2023-0015","url":null,"abstract":"Participatory budgeting (PB) is a modern trend involving citizens in decisions on distributing public resources. Assuming that the identified drawbacks of PB are described as internal and external factors, simple criteria were developed to predict the fate of PB. These criteria reflect stakeholders’ decisions about PB continuation in the future. Using panel data between 2017-2022 from the Czech Republic, it appears that the selected criteria were evaluated as an upgrading process, signalling the continuation of PB. However, this does not mean abandoning the process in the case of downgrading. The results indicate a certain probability for upgrading PB to continue, while the fate of downgrading PB is indeterminate and could depend on other factors. In the case of new governance after an electoral change, using the criteria could help explain the actual situation regarding the interest of stakeholders in PB.","PeriodicalId":43378,"journal":{"name":"NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138690127","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The main objective of this study is to assess the impact of corruption on the social, economic, environmental and political domains of sustainable development from individuals’ perspective. The study also attempts to relate individuals’ perceptions to their socioeconomic characteristics. The study uses the convenience sampling approach, where 521 responses are collected through an online-administered questionnaire. Each domain of sustainable development is defined by a set of items measured on a five-point Likert scale. Individuals’ perceptions of the impact of corruption on sustainable development domains are assessed by measuring the mean score value of each item. The association between individuals’ perceptions and their socioeconomic characteristics is evaluated using the independent-samples t-test. The study finds that the impact of corruption on the four domains of sustainable development as perceived by individuals is within the high level. Results also show a statistically significant difference between individuals from different socioeconomic groups in their perceptions of the impact of corruption on sustainable development. Results revealed that a high level of corruption would hinder the progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at all levels. Therefore, improving the quality of governance in public institutions and controlling corruption is crucial to attaining economic and sustainable development.
本研究的主要目的是从个人角度评估腐败对可持续发展的社会、经济、环境和政治领域的影响。本研究还试图将个人的看法与其社会经济特征联系起来。本研究采用便利抽样法，通过在线发放问卷的方式收集了 521 份答复。可持续发展的每个领域都由一组项目来定义，采用李克特五点量表进行测量。通过测量每个项目的平均分值，评估个人对腐败对可持续发展领域影响的看法。采用独立样本 t 检验法评估个人看法与其社会经济特征之间的关联。研究发现，个人认为腐败对可持续发展四个领域的影响处于较高水平。研究结果还显示，不同社会经济群体的个人对腐败对可持续发展的影响的认知在统计学上存在显著差异。结果显示，高水平的腐败会阻碍在各个层面实现可持续发展目标（SDGs）。因此，提高公共机构的治理质量和控制腐败对于实现经济和可持续发展至关重要。
{"title":"Assessing Individuals’ Perceptions of the Impact of Corruption on the Domains of Sustainable Development: A Cross-sectional Study in Palestine","authors":"Ismail Iriqat","doi":"10.2478/nispa-2023-0014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2023-0014","url":null,"abstract":"The main objective of this study is to assess the impact of corruption on the social, economic, environmental and political domains of sustainable development from individuals’ perspective. The study also attempts to relate individuals’ perceptions to their socioeconomic characteristics. The study uses the convenience sampling approach, where 521 responses are collected through an online-administered questionnaire. Each domain of sustainable development is defined by a set of items measured on a five-point Likert scale. Individuals’ perceptions of the impact of corruption on sustainable development domains are assessed by measuring the mean score value of each item. The association between individuals’ perceptions and their socioeconomic characteristics is evaluated using the independent-samples t-test. The study finds that the impact of corruption on the four domains of sustainable development as perceived by individuals is within the high level. Results also show a statistically significant difference between individuals from different socioeconomic groups in their perceptions of the impact of corruption on sustainable development. Results revealed that a high level of corruption would hinder the progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at all levels. Therefore, improving the quality of governance in public institutions and controlling corruption is crucial to attaining economic and sustainable development.","PeriodicalId":43378,"journal":{"name":"NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138689865","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The paper is based on the use of evidence to scrutinise the effect of the Public-Private Partnership Act on the local public utility providers, where the context of the water and wastewater sector in Slovenia serves as an example. The Act affected the legal status of public enterprises, where solely public ownership was prescribed, and therefore demanded the reorganisation of existing public enterprises. The paper aims to evaluate the reorganisation process and the trend of remunicipalisation, the motives of reorganisation (political, pragmatic or transformative) and the advantages and disadvantages of the reorganisation process. A detailed, structured online questionnaire was designed and pretested for primary data collection to reach these aims. The questionnaire was sent to the Slovenian local public utility providers in water and wastewater management. The data was collated from 2018 to 2020. It was used in the analysis to provide evidence about the outcomes of the reorganisation process. The results show that new legislation contributed to increased public ownership in local public utility provision. The results also reveal that pragmatic motivating factors contributed to increased municipal buying out of private investors from (public) enterprises. The reorganisation process led municipalities into remunicipalisation, meaning that full municipal ownership and control increased.
{"title":"Reorganising Local Public Utilities: Where and Why We Can Argue for the Remunicipalization Trends?","authors":"Veronika Petkovšek, Nevenka Hrovatin, Primož Pevcin","doi":"10.2478/nispa-2023-0016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2023-0016","url":null,"abstract":"The paper is based on the use of evidence to scrutinise the effect of the Public-Private Partnership Act on the local public utility providers, where the context of the water and wastewater sector in Slovenia serves as an example. The Act affected the legal status of public enterprises, where solely public ownership was prescribed, and therefore demanded the reorganisation of existing public enterprises. The paper aims to evaluate the reorganisation process and the trend of remunicipalisation, the motives of reorganisation (political, pragmatic or transformative) and the advantages and disadvantages of the reorganisation process. A detailed, structured online questionnaire was designed and pretested for primary data collection to reach these aims. The questionnaire was sent to the Slovenian local public utility providers in water and wastewater management. The data was collated from 2018 to 2020. It was used in the analysis to provide evidence about the outcomes of the reorganisation process. The results show that new legislation contributed to increased public ownership in local public utility provision. The results also reveal that pragmatic motivating factors contributed to increased municipal buying out of private investors from (public) enterprises. The reorganisation process led municipalities into remunicipalisation, meaning that full municipal ownership and control increased.","PeriodicalId":43378,"journal":{"name":"NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138690006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The information society offers governments the opportunity to work closer with citizens and companies, to respond better to their requirements, and to create the conditions for the functioning of a modern, efficient, and democratic public administration. Due to the development of the information society, e-governance and e-participation appeared and developed, through which the communication of governments with stakeholders became more straightforward and less expensive. This research aims to identify and analyse comparatively how the telecommunications infrastructure and Internet users influenced the expansion and diversification of e- government and e-participation that contributed to the human development index in the EU states in 2010-2022. In the longitudinal data analysis, we apply fixed and random estimators to see the most critical determinants of the human development index. In the second part, we cluster the 27 EU countries in four clusters by Ward’s hierarchical algorithm. The hierarchical clustering emphasised that there is still a digital divide among EU countries. The digital divide occurs because of the lack of Internet access of the population from marginalised communities of European countries, resulting in socio-economic disparities. Therefore, some EU states should have initiatives to bridge the gap to digital technologies. The research results are essential for those governments coordinating the policies and the entire process of integrating information technologies and dedicated e-government and e-participation applications in central and local administration.
{"title":"Hierarchical Clustering of the European Countries from the Perspective of E-government, E-participation, and Human Development","authors":"Armenia Androniceanu, Irina Georgescu","doi":"10.2478/nispa-2023-0011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2023-0011","url":null,"abstract":"The information society offers governments the opportunity to work closer with citizens and companies, to respond better to their requirements, and to create the conditions for the functioning of a modern, efficient, and democratic public administration. Due to the development of the information society, e-governance and e-participation appeared and developed, through which the communication of governments with stakeholders became more straightforward and less expensive. This research aims to identify and analyse comparatively how the telecommunications infrastructure and Internet users influenced the expansion and diversification of e- government and e-participation that contributed to the human development index in the EU states in 2010-2022. In the longitudinal data analysis, we apply fixed and random estimators to see the most critical determinants of the human development index. In the second part, we cluster the 27 EU countries in four clusters by Ward’s hierarchical algorithm. The hierarchical clustering emphasised that there is still a digital divide among EU countries. The digital divide occurs because of the lack of Internet access of the population from marginalised communities of European countries, resulting in socio-economic disparities. Therefore, some EU states should have initiatives to bridge the gap to digital technologies. The research results are essential for those governments coordinating the policies and the entire process of integrating information technologies and dedicated e-government and e-participation applications in central and local administration.","PeriodicalId":43378,"journal":{"name":"NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138690005","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The paper compiles a single case study on the national EU integration coordination in Georgia since 1991 to date. The paper aims to ground Georgia’s case in the existing academic literature with a detailed case description and testing of the EU integration coordination mechanisms in Georgia based on theories and models in the PA literature. Georgia’s coordination mechanisms are assessed against external incentives, such as ‘socialisation’ v. ‘conditionality’ (Schimmelfennig, 2009), and classified in terms of Kassim’s (2003) system of national coordination. The paper describes five distinct periods in the evolution of EU integration coordination formats: the first encounter (1991-1999); the silhouettes of coordination (1999-2004); the deliberate coordination (2004-2014); the pragmatic coordination (2014-2022) and the coordination limbo (2022 to date). EU integration coordination structures from 2004 to 2014 are likened to a comprehensive centraliser - with the centre being the driving force of the entire coordination process, with all the issues or thematic areas being depicted in respective planning documents. Since 2014, the country’s approach has been compared to that of a selective centraliser, since Georgia shows signs of selectiveness in its ambitions to deliver on a nationally agreed EU policy outcome. The paper finds that, unlike prevalent patterns in EU integration coordination, the relative stagnation of the EU coordination process happens after the accession; in Georgia, this has occurred during the onset of the conditionality stage, which makes this an outlier case. In assessing the reasons for the weakening of the process of coordination, this case supports findings that the actor-centric approach is vital to explaining the coordination efforts (Dimitrova & Toshkov, 2007; Fink-Hafner, 2013). The paper concludes that a significant improvement of existing EU integration coordination structures is needed to build a comprehensive approach, reinforced with horizontal coordination and networking, to construct an agreed and inclusive EU integration coordination.
{"title":"EU Integration Coordination in Georgia: Evolution of the Coordination Model and Contingent Factors","authors":"Nino Dolidze, Giorgi Bobghiashvili, Eka Akobia","doi":"10.2478/nispa-2023-0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2023-0013","url":null,"abstract":"The paper compiles a single case study on the national EU integration coordination in Georgia since 1991 to date. The paper aims to ground Georgia’s case in the existing academic literature with a detailed case description and testing of the EU integration coordination mechanisms in Georgia based on theories and models in the PA literature. Georgia’s coordination mechanisms are assessed against external incentives, such as ‘socialisation’ v. ‘conditionality’ (Schimmelfennig, 2009), and classified in terms of Kassim’s (2003) system of national coordination. The paper describes five distinct periods in the evolution of EU integration coordination formats: the first encounter (1991-1999); the silhouettes of coordination (1999-2004); the deliberate coordination (2004-2014); the pragmatic coordination (2014-2022) and the coordination limbo (2022 to date). EU integration coordination structures from 2004 to 2014 are likened to a comprehensive centraliser - with the centre being the driving force of the entire coordination process, with all the issues or thematic areas being depicted in respective planning documents. Since 2014, the country’s approach has been compared to that of a selective centraliser, since Georgia shows signs of selectiveness in its ambitions to deliver on a nationally agreed EU policy outcome. The paper finds that, unlike prevalent patterns in EU integration coordination, the relative stagnation of the EU coordination process happens after the accession; in Georgia, this has occurred during the onset of the conditionality stage, which makes this an outlier case. In assessing the reasons for the weakening of the process of coordination, this case supports findings that the actor-centric approach is vital to explaining the coordination efforts (Dimitrova & Toshkov, 2007; Fink-Hafner, 2013). The paper concludes that a significant improvement of existing EU integration coordination structures is needed to build a comprehensive approach, reinforced with horizontal coordination and networking, to construct an agreed and inclusive EU integration coordination.","PeriodicalId":43378,"journal":{"name":"NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy","volume":"241 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138690138","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The paper is mixed-method research on reducing administrative burden and, more specifically, the learning costs of filling out a property tax declaration form. It presents the development process of a guidebook, which simplified the instructions and experimentally tested the effectiveness of the guidebook in lowering the error rate. Young Slovak adults (N=43) were divided into two groups; the treatment group worked with the guidebook, and the control group used the official instructions the Ministry of Finance provided. The guidebook aimed to decrease learning costs using behavioural support (simplification, highlighting, examples, and the like). The results suggest that the guidebook helps significantly decrease the number of errors compared to the complex instructions the Ministry of Finance provided. However, while the guidebook is very effective in reducing errors in simple tasks, it may not be sufficient help for more complex tasks such as mathematical calculations. Therefore, simplified instructions must go hand-in-hand with interventions such as pre-populating of forms.
{"title":"Reducing Error Rate in Property Tax Declaration Forms through Simplification and Highlighting Instructions","authors":"Matúš Sloboda, Monika Šmeringaiová, Patrik Pavlovský","doi":"10.2478/nispa-2023-0018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2023-0018","url":null,"abstract":"The paper is mixed-method research on reducing administrative burden and, more specifically, the learning costs of filling out a property tax declaration form. It presents the development process of a guidebook, which simplified the instructions and experimentally tested the effectiveness of the guidebook in lowering the error rate. Young Slovak adults (N=43) were divided into two groups; the treatment group worked with the guidebook, and the control group used the official instructions the Ministry of Finance provided. The guidebook aimed to decrease learning costs using behavioural support (simplification, highlighting, examples, and the like). The results suggest that the guidebook helps significantly decrease the number of errors compared to the complex instructions the Ministry of Finance provided. However, while the guidebook is very effective in reducing errors in simple tasks, it may not be sufficient help for more complex tasks such as mathematical calculations. Therefore, simplified instructions must go hand-in-hand with interventions such as pre-populating of forms.","PeriodicalId":43378,"journal":{"name":"NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138689927","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Data protection is an increasingly important topic in the European administrative field at national and cross-border levels. Such a trend reflects different phenomena in contemporary society, which further leads to a more focused concern for a harmonised elaboration by the Member States despite their autonomy, in principle, regarding EU law implementation. However, as revealed by the Slovenian case in this article, the European Data Protection Board and national supervising authorities, mostly information commissioners, express the need to regulate some issues more decidedly. Interestingly, yet not surprisingly, their focus is on procedural aspects, as according to administrative science and several European Commission documents, procedure strongly influences the results. As a result, the article elaborates on the relevant procedural issues to be addressed to ensure a harmonised enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in force since 2018. Various research methods are employed, combining qualitative, normative, and comparative analyses and quantitative approaches, emphasising statistical data obtained from annual reports for 2020, 2021, and 2022. The results show a lack of procedural provisions in several aspects, including the definition of the parties to the procedure and their defence rights, particularly access to the file, to be heard, and complain, as well as one-stop-shop access to legal protection, deadlines, and investigation powers. Such gaps are expected to be covered by procedural institutions enshrined in National Administrative Procedure Acts (APA). However, as suggested by the Slovenian experience, such a solution is minimal due to differing national regulations and relatively low awareness of APA relevance in data protection even among supervising authorities. Hence, the authors argue that there is a need to develop and adopt standard EU rules to regulate such issues. Points for Practitioners The article refers to data protection within theoretical, normative, practical, comparative, and national dimensions. In addition to analysing statistical data regarding procedural issues of cross-collaborative application of GDPR in the Member States - primarily Slovenia - the article provides practical implications of legislative, organisational, and IT adaptations required for harmonising EU-wide enforcement of GDPR. The insights provided herein can support the development of similar solutions in other EU countries. Therefore, the research findings are relevant for practitioners from various European administrations who are in charge of implementing GDPR and, specifically, supervising its implementation, as well as for policymakers and legislators in their respective areas of data protection and administrative procedural law. The findings will also benefit the European Commission when drafting new legislation to enhance cooperation and consistency between Member States in enforcing personal data rights set by GDPR.
{"title":"Procedural Challenges of Cross-border Cooperation and Consistency in Personal Data Protection in the EU","authors":"Grega Rudolf, Polonca Kovač","doi":"10.2478/nispa-2023-0017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2023-0017","url":null,"abstract":"Data protection is an increasingly important topic in the European administrative field at national and cross-border levels. Such a trend reflects different phenomena in contemporary society, which further leads to a more focused concern for a harmonised elaboration by the Member States despite their autonomy, in principle, regarding EU law implementation. However, as revealed by the Slovenian case in this article, the European Data Protection Board and national supervising authorities, mostly information commissioners, express the need to regulate some issues more decidedly. Interestingly, yet not surprisingly, their focus is on procedural aspects, as according to administrative science and several European Commission documents, procedure strongly influences the results. As a result, the article elaborates on the relevant procedural issues to be addressed to ensure a harmonised enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in force since 2018. Various research methods are employed, combining qualitative, normative, and comparative analyses and quantitative approaches, emphasising statistical data obtained from annual reports for 2020, 2021, and 2022. The results show a lack of procedural provisions in several aspects, including the definition of the parties to the procedure and their defence rights, particularly access to the file, to be heard, and complain, as well as one-stop-shop access to legal protection, deadlines, and investigation powers. Such gaps are expected to be covered by procedural institutions enshrined in National Administrative Procedure Acts (APA). However, as suggested by the Slovenian experience, such a solution is minimal due to differing national regulations and relatively low awareness of APA relevance in data protection even among supervising authorities. Hence, the authors argue that there is a need to develop and adopt standard EU rules to regulate such issues. Points for Practitioners The article refers to data protection within theoretical, normative, practical, comparative, and national dimensions. In addition to analysing statistical data regarding procedural issues of cross-collaborative application of GDPR in the Member States - primarily Slovenia - the article provides practical implications of legislative, organisational, and IT adaptations required for harmonising EU-wide enforcement of GDPR. The insights provided herein can support the development of similar solutions in other EU countries. Therefore, the research findings are relevant for practitioners from various European administrations who are in charge of implementing GDPR and, specifically, supervising its implementation, as well as for policymakers and legislators in their respective areas of data protection and administrative procedural law. The findings will also benefit the European Commission when drafting new legislation to enhance cooperation and consistency between Member States in enforcing personal data rights set by GDPR.","PeriodicalId":43378,"journal":{"name":"NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138689929","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emília Zimková, Kristína Sičová, Ľubomír Pintér, Colin Lawson
The technical efficiency of water companies plays a crucial role in ensuring the reliable and sustainable delivery of clean and safe drinking water. It also influences the effective management of water and wastewater services. Services of this kind, usually provided by a monopoly supplier, offer operators no market incentives to innovate, or improve their efficiency. So, the mission of the regulatory institutions is to simulate a competitive environment. The main aim of this contribution is to use Network Data Envelopment Analysis (N-DEA) to assess and benchmark the technical efficiency of 14 water and wastewater companies offering their services in Slovakia from 2019 - 2021. The methodology of N-DEA allows us to assess the activity’s cost and delivery efficiency, and its overall technical efficiency. We show that full cost efficiency was achieved by two small and one large water companies operating in different regions. Three of the largest suppliers of water and wastewater services and one small company achieved the efficient delivery of water services. Overall efficiency was achieved by one large company in 2021 and one small company in 2019 and 2020. The outcome of our empirical analysis demonstrates the excellent skills of managers in technically efficient companies, regardless of company size and region. That outcome may be of interest to regulatory institutions and the management of individual water companies.
{"title":"The Technical Efficiency of Slovak Water Companies: An Application of Network DEA","authors":"Emília Zimková, Kristína Sičová, Ľubomír Pintér, Colin Lawson","doi":"10.2478/nispa-2023-0020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2023-0020","url":null,"abstract":"The technical efficiency of water companies plays a crucial role in ensuring the reliable and sustainable delivery of clean and safe drinking water. It also influences the effective management of water and wastewater services. Services of this kind, usually provided by a monopoly supplier, offer operators no market incentives to innovate, or improve their efficiency. So, the mission of the regulatory institutions is to simulate a competitive environment. The main aim of this contribution is to use Network Data Envelopment Analysis (N-DEA) to assess and benchmark the technical efficiency of 14 water and wastewater companies offering their services in Slovakia from 2019 - 2021. The methodology of N-DEA allows us to assess the activity’s cost and delivery efficiency, and its overall technical efficiency. We show that full cost efficiency was achieved by two small and one large water companies operating in different regions. Three of the largest suppliers of water and wastewater services and one small company achieved the efficient delivery of water services. Overall efficiency was achieved by one large company in 2021 and one small company in 2019 and 2020. The outcome of our empirical analysis demonstrates the excellent skills of managers in technically efficient companies, regardless of company size and region. That outcome may be of interest to regulatory institutions and the management of individual water companies.","PeriodicalId":43378,"journal":{"name":"NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138690009","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Participatory budgeting (PB) is often described as one of the most successful instruments for participation, engaging people in decision-making, and prioritising where to allocate public money. It has travelled in the form of comprehensive administrative reforms and politically neutral devices to improve governance, especially when arriving to Europe and the Central Eastern European region (CEE). Recently, it was brought to light that PB development in the CEE region was undoubtedly different from the original case; instead of resulting in radical changes to increase activities in favour of marginalised groups, it results only in small changes. This work presents a single case study of the Czech city Brno; information consisting of age, gender, education, economic activity, and preferences of all the PB participants was collated for five years, from its inception in 2017 till 2021. In this case, we observe and analyse the particularities of the participant group, not only in static terms of one year but also drafting a trend on how the participatory base developed throughout the five years. Both desk and field research were employed to gather data. The turnout at PB voting does not copy the general demographic composition of Brno’s residents. Results show that some segments are represented by PB voters with higher proportions, making them more involved in deciding which projects in the city are to be executed using PB. In this way, the description of data-gathering in Brno contributes to the methodology of quantitative data gathering, which might be expanded to other CEE cities in order to elaborate comparisons in the future.
{"title":"Who Participates in Participatory Budgeting? Unravelling of Who Shows Up","authors":"Martina Benzoni Baláž, Jozef Gašparík","doi":"10.2478/nispa-2023-0012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2023-0012","url":null,"abstract":"Participatory budgeting (PB) is often described as one of the most successful instruments for participation, engaging people in decision-making, and prioritising where to allocate public money. It has travelled in the form of comprehensive administrative reforms and politically neutral devices to improve governance, especially when arriving to Europe and the Central Eastern European region (CEE). Recently, it was brought to light that PB development in the CEE region was undoubtedly different from the original case; instead of resulting in radical changes to increase activities in favour of marginalised groups, it results only in small changes. This work presents a single case study of the Czech city Brno; information consisting of age, gender, education, economic activity, and preferences of all the PB participants was collated for five years, from its inception in 2017 till 2021. In this case, we observe and analyse the particularities of the participant group, not only in static terms of one year but also drafting a trend on how the participatory base developed throughout the five years. Both desk and field research were employed to gather data. The turnout at PB voting does not copy the general demographic composition of Brno’s residents. Results show that some segments are represented by PB voters with higher proportions, making them more involved in deciding which projects in the city are to be executed using PB. In this way, the description of data-gathering in Brno contributes to the methodology of quantitative data gathering, which might be expanded to other CEE cities in order to elaborate comparisons in the future.","PeriodicalId":43378,"journal":{"name":"NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138690143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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