Romea Manojlović

Evaluating the Impact of Decentralisation on Local Public Management Modernisation in Croatia

The decentralization process in Croatia began in 2001, but it was not fully implemented. Starting from the theoretical postulates indicating that decentralization can influence public management, the chapter evaluates whether the “limited decentralization” has had any influence on public management modernization. Public management modernization is conceptualized as the adoption of quality management, goals and performance orientation, market mechanisms and better regulation. Methodologically, the chapter relies on the interviews conducted in four local units. The results indicate that “limited decentralization” has had no direct influence on public management modernization, but it has produced some improvements in general management. In case of a wider transfer of responsibilities and sufficient capacities of local units, the impact of decentralization on local management modernization may be expected.

Croatia: Elections for Weak Counties When Regionalization Is Not Finished Yet

Despite several reforms, county government in Croatia remains weak but more self-government for counties is constantly debated. Against this background we analyze county elections in Croatia which appear to be highly nationalized and second-order elections. Although county elections are held on the same day as local elections turnout rates are relatively low. Party system congruence between regional and national elections is also low which could be an indication of regionalization of the vote. However, this dissimilarity is driven by vote switching between regional and national elections as a result of the second-order nature of county elections. In this chapter we suggest factors which can account for the subordinate nature of county elections and we evaluate evidence for regionalization of the vote.