ASSESSMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN TURKEY INTRODUCTION

ASSESSMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN TURKEY

INTRODUCTION n Forces of change: n Internal: n n n External n n n Economic crises Earthquake IMF, WB commitments EU candidacy Amendments to Constitution

CONTENTS n n n n Overview of the state of public administration and governance in turkey Needs and challenges in the process of modernization of public administration Decentralisation of central governance and decisionmaking Public service delivery Human resources in the public sector and leadership E-government Enabling environment for private sector and investment

OVERVIEW OF THE STATE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND GOVERNANCE IN TURKEY n n Public administration in line with the needs of society and internal and external developments 1982 Constitution n Principles: n n n n Legality Of The Administration Rule Of Law Concept Of The Social State Intervention In The Economic Field Secularism Integrity Of Administration Judicial Review Through Administrative Courts Amendments to the Constitution

n Administration: n n n Within the Executive branch, but a separate entity Operates in close relation with the Executive and under the supervision of the legislative, executive and judicial branches Administrative Structure: n n n 81 provinces 850 districts 3215 municipalities 16 metropolitan municipalities 35000 villages

Administrative structure: Central Administration n 1. 2. 3. Central Departments Provincial Organizations Autonomous Bodies 1. 2. 3. Regulatory Bodies Functionally Decentralized Org. (State Economic Enterprises) Higher Education Board Local administration n 1. 2. 3. Special Provincial Administrations Municipalities Village Administrations

Central Administration Central Departments and Provincial Organizations n n The Office Of The Prime Minister, the Council Of Ministers, Consultative Agencies Provincial Organizations; provincial units of the Ministries. Hierarchical supervision

n Autonomous bodies: n Regulatory bodies; private sector driven structure, regulatory policy n n n n n Telecommunication Authority, Energy Market Regulatory Authority, Board to regulate tobacco and alcoholic beverages, Board to regulate sugar markets, Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency Capital Markets Board of Turkey, Competition Authority, Public Tender Authority Radio Television Supreme Council

n State Economic Enterprises n Higher Education Board

Local administration Administrative tutelage of the central administration Divided into three main administrative tiers. n n 1. 2. 3. Special Provincial Administrations; provide public services deemed necessary on the outlying lands not under the jurisdiction of municipalities Municipalities Village Administrations

NEEDS AND CHALLENGES n n n n Transparency Accountability Participation Women Participation Responsiveness The role of public sector in economy Auditing Centralist tradition and highly bureaucratic culture

Transparency n n State secret concept, leakage of information Achievements: n n The Law on the Organization of the Prime Ministry The amended Civil Code Right of Information Act Live broadcast of plenary sessions of the Turkish Grand National Assembly

Accountability n Bureaucratic and administrative supervision; n n supervision by the superintendents administrative tutelage over local administration Risks in achieving accountability; corruption, bribery, favoritism and nepotism Tools for providing accountability: n n n general elections NGOs, and the media administrative and financial accountability, the State Supervisory Council a “total quality” approach legal accountability; Constitutional Court, the High Court of Appeals, and the Council of State

Participation n Political participation in Turkey usually takes the form of participation in elections and election campaigns; and, individual or collective petitioning to political organizations n n n The Eighth Five-Year Development Plan; “a participatory and people-based administrative system” Local Agenda 21 The Regulation on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)

Women participation n Low female participation n n Parliament: % 3. 8 Mayors of municipalities: % 0. 6 Provincial assembly members: % 1. 4 Municipal council members: % 1. 6

Responsiveness n n Complexity and excessive red-tape in administrative procedures Developments: n n The Right to Information Act Administrative Procedural Act

Role of public sector in economy n Leadership of the public sector since 1930 s

Auditing n Ineffectiveness in the system of auditing n Reasons: n system is largely based on compliance audits n emphasis on the formal elements of auditing n results of auditing functions are not disclosed to the public

Centralist tradition and highly bureaucratic culture n n n Solving local problems through the resources of central government instead of adopting local solutions Unfairness in revenue sharing between central and local administrations Weakness of local administrations

DECENTRALISATION OF CENTRAL GOVERNANCE AND DECISION-MAKING n n Attitude for annulling this centralist structure Two draft laws on public administration n Public Administration Basic Law Draft laws on Municipalities, Metropolitan Municipalities and Special Provincial Administrations (SPA) Division of tasks; democratic governmental system through introducing good governance principles such as transparency, accountability, participation and responsiveness

n New tools for good governance in both central and local governments with the draft laws: n n n Consultation to related parties such as NGOs, universities and professional organizations for any kind of administrative decision or/and acts Public administration shall provide all information Fiscal information shall be issued to public at certain times of the year. Role of civil societies shall be strengthened Ombudsmanship at the provincial level is created Existing neighborhood system will be empowered

PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY n Main criticisms: n n n Intransparent and unaccountable bidding system Delay in privatization process Inadequate interest to allow foreign private companies Ignored participation Poor quality of services

n Recent developments: n Privatization n n Build- Operate- Transfer n n A new instrument in sectors such as communication (GSM operators), gas and electricity distribution, and transportation (Turkish Airlines). Different models of BOT implementation Legal disputes Local administrations Public Procurement Law n n New procurement system which meets international standards, in particular EU standards Public Tender Authority as a public legal entity

n Tools for public service delivery: n n n n n Services directly provided by public administration authorities Contractual work Partial privatization Leasing Concession Subsidiary arrangements Volunteer personnel Self-help Regulatory and tax incentives

HUMAN RESOURCES IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR AND LEADERSHIP n Main criticism of human resources in public sector are as follows: n n Rigid system Evaluation of personnel was not depending on performance criteria The salary system also has not been based on performance evaluation Civil servants enjoy a life-time employment

n Legal framework n civil servants n n n Public workers n n right to establish trade unions without the right to strike (2001) right to collective bargaining wider labor rights such as right to strike and right to be a member of a political party Recruitment n n n lack of an objective public employment system transformation of the system to a flexible one in accordance with the EU norms a new entrance exam system

n Career n career system; n n n Training in public administration n Ministries of Interior, Foreign Affairs and Finance regulatory bodies and to specific governmental departments such as the State Planning Organization. no standard training system for civil servants TODAİE New perspective towards human resources n Public Administration Basic Draft Law

E-GOVERNMENT n Weaknesses and challenges n n n n Lack of sound infrastructure for e-government Lack of well-defined vision and mission statement Lack of cooperation among governmental agencies Lack of information in the Internet environment Lack of cooperation between governmental agencies and private sector agencies Lack of willingness in the usage of e-government tools within bureaucracy The lack of formal education regarding the usage of computers and the internet The lack of legal framework in the field of e-government

n Recent developments n n n “Restructuring of the Public Administration Project” under the Prime Ministry The EU initiative: e. Europe Program and Action Plane. Turkey e-Transformation Turkey Project computerized programs for service delivery, such as in tax collection and giving licenses e-transformation projects in local government agencies Localnet

n Good practices in e-government implementations n n Ministry of Interior; applications for issuing passports Ministry of Interior DG of Registration and Citizenship Retirement Department for Civil Servants Ministry of Finance, Revenue Department

ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR PRIVATE SECTOR AND INVESTMENT n Forces of change: n n n economic and political "restructuring“; Economic crises, natural disasters, regional and political challenges accession process to the EU Developments : n n private sector is steadily gaining ground creation of a more favorable environment is the result of the liberalization policies positive developments in the economy political stability with one party government of Turkey after a long period of coalition governments

n Difficulties and achievements n n n n administrative structure- new public administration reform psychologically negative perception of the bureaucratic apparatus- new spirit after the candidacy of Turkey to EU legal problems stemming from the judicial system- academy for in-service training for judges EU aquis problems related to implementation- slow pace improvement criticism to protection of intellectual property rights- new Procurement Law unfair competition- Competition Authority; new Penal Code protection of consumers; new Consumer Protection Law