Procedural transparency in rural Romania: linking implementation with administrative capacity?

Abstract

The article discusses the concept of procedural administrative transparency and aims to investigate the extent to which the legal provisions of Law no. 52/2003 on transparency in decision-making are actually implemented by the local administrations from the rural communities in the Transylvania region, Romania. The main research questions are: Where are the weaknesses in the implementation of Law no. 52/2003 in the rural settings in Romania? Why do they occur? What could be changed to alleviate these weaknesses? Based on a mixed method approach – surveys followed by direct observation and informal interviews – we determined that the implementation of procedural transparency requirements is low and in many cases local public authorities comply only ‘for the record’ with the provisions of the law. The main challenge with regard to implementation is the existence of universal provisions for all local public authorities, irrespective of their administrative capacity, existing cultural and social characteristics of public participation and communication in rural communities as well as the relationship between central and local tiers of the government. In conclusion, the authors argue that the implementation level of these requirements could be enhanced by their inclusion in a general procedural administrative law. Points for practitioners Very often, countries from Eastern Europe adopt state-of-the-art legislation which is then difficult to implement due to factors such as limited administrative capacity at the local level coupled with differences between urban and rural areas, resistance to change within the bureaucratic machinery, passiveness on behalf of the citizens, etc. In 2003, Romania adopted the law on transparency in the decision-making process of public authorities in an attempt to create a more open, transparent, accountable, and predictable government. Since its adoption, studies conducted by NGOs have proved that the implementation level is relatively low. This research assesses how the legal provisions of Law no. 52/2003 are implemented in the rural areas of Transylvania, one of the most significant regions of the country from an economic and cultural standpoint. Based on their findings, the authors argue that implementation in rural areas could be enhanced provided that local authorities are given more discretion with regard to how to implement certain provisions (flexibility in the choice of policy tools); and more discretion should be complemented by increased sanctions for non-compliance and their enforcement. These two goals can be achieved by including the procedural transparency requirements in a general administrative procedure law/administrative code.