1. Governance in V4 countries: the Czech Republic and Slovakia
Petr Witz
2016

2. Basic determinants Frequently interrupted administrative tradition
Experience with totalitarian regime
Velvet revolution
Country split-up
EU membership

3. Main challenges for governance at national/local level
existence of old elites and monopolistic power structures – cronysim, nepotism and clientelism
frequent changes in regulation and government policies
culture of non-disclosure of data
limited role of Supreme audit office
non-transparent financing of political parties
insufficient and corrupt state support system for allocation of EU funds – high transaction costs and low effectiveness
lack of experts in the civil service and even more so at local level – low attractiveness of positions

7. Reconstruction of the State
alliance of the most prolific and most active anticorruption NGOs in the Czech Republic
combined pressure on politicians to support
9 key anticorruption laws
new tactics – forcing politicians to make written pledges that are then constantly reviewed
powerful sponsors
agressive campaign in media

9. Good governance initiatives
Several initiatives „from above“ and „from below“:
Freedom of information – from below
Registries of public contracts – from below
Electronic evidence of sales – from above
Financial disclosure acts – both ways
Reform of the role of the Supreme audit office – both ways
Civil service reforms – from below
Reform of administrative divisions - from above
Participative budgeting – Democracy 2.1 – from below

10. Electronic evidence of sales
project of the ministry of finance aimed at increasing effectiveness of tax collection – more money for transfers to local administrations
all sales to be reported on-line and automatically to tax authorities
high costs to businesses

11. Financial disclosure act
new obligation for individuals to prove legality of their possesions
not just for politicians but for everyone
retroactivity
possesions that are not justified can be confiscated

12. Civil service reform example of failed effort
the original intention to depoliticize public administration and protect it from external influences
in reality the new government abused the new law to get its political nominees to civil service and lock the in their positions for many years to come

13. Reform of the role of the Supreme Audit Office
reform aimed at bringing local administrations under the jurisdiction of Supreme audit office
until now the

14. Reform of the administrative division – „kraj“ vs „okres“

15. Participative decision making&budgeting – Democracy 2.1
system created by the company of the Czech billionaire Janeček
enhancing democratic decision making by giving people more than one vote and making the vote very simple and transparent
allowing both “plus-votes” and “minus-votes”
used by local authorities all over the world
notable examples: New York City Council

16. Open contracts project of Slovak Fair Play Alliance and TI Slovakia
accumulated database of contracts of total value over 91 bn euros
classification and visualiastion of all government departments‘, agencies‘ and local authorities‘ contracts
allows for comments and evaluation by citizens
Costs: euros capex and tens of euros per year for website maintenance
Staff: Just one member of staff part-time responsible for regular updates and research

17. Otvorená samospráva TIS project focussed on local government
TIS employees put together rankings of the 100 biggest Slovak local authorities based on relatively complex weighted indicators from several different areas.
evaluates the overall performance of local government authorities concerning openness and transparency of their actions on the one hand and the quality of provided information on the other
the areas are assigned weight according to their perceived influence on transparency and good governance on the local level
Costs: up to euros capex
Staff: Quarterly checks, otherwise none

18. Otvorená samospráva Assigned weight: Access to information 21
Citizens’ participation
Public procurement
Assets management (sales and rents) 9.5
Budget
Grants and subsidies 7
Housing and social housing
Human resources management
Ethics
Spatial planning and land use 3
Gen. loc. government ventures and investments 4