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Romanian public administration reform 2.0: using innovative foresight methodologies to engage stakeholders and the public

Romanian public administration reform 2.0: using innovative foresight methodologies to engage stakeholders and the public
Romanian public administration reform 2.0: using innovative foresight methodologies to engage stakeholders and the public

Purpose: The purpose of this practice-oriented paper is to look at a recent, late-phase development in public administration (PA) reform in Romania, specifically the drafting of the recently adopted national Strategy on Strengthening the Efficiency of Public Administration (2014-2020). In particular, the paper focuses on the opportunities and limits of outsourcing the building of the vision underlying the strategy and the prioritization of strategic objectives. The article’s story is also placed in the broader context of agencification literature and, more specifically, the involvement of executive agencies in policymaking. Design/methodology/approach: The paper describes the vision-building exercise, developed according to a script already tested in several sectoral strategy-making processes, and the objectives and procedure of the online participatory consultation by using an adapted real-time Delphi format (similarly tested in the recent past). Findings: The paper reports on the ways in which the output of the visioning process and of online consultations may be used to enhance a strategic process already underway. Originality/value: PA reform in post-communist countries has been among the most hotly debated, intensely pursued, yet seemingly elusive policy objectives of the transition and post-transition periods. Among pre-accession and then European Union (EU) member states, the need to get in and then to get involved in European policymaking provided some impetus for such reforms and also set substantial constraints, without however always adding much predictability or significantly streamlining the public sector. The paper contributes to this debate by proving an innovative method of devising a reform strategy by outsourcing the strategy-building process to an agency with the necessary know-how and experience.

Agencification, Long-term strategic planning, Outsourcing, Strategy formulation, Visioning
1463-6689
261-279
Zulean, Marian
9e8688cc-0e7d-4dcd-8041-f6d82a91fbc7
Andreescu, Liviu
8d45e9cb-49fa-4fab-9693-2b6908d332dd
Gheorghiu, Radu
f732e08b-6cf3-4b50-9856-327d44c0be45
Roescu, Andra Maria
677ffb87-20b5-4cdd-a518-0b29e58aa16b
Curaj, Adrian
3f39d584-155c-4114-bfb0-29746ef342c5
Zulean, Marian
9e8688cc-0e7d-4dcd-8041-f6d82a91fbc7
Andreescu, Liviu
8d45e9cb-49fa-4fab-9693-2b6908d332dd
Gheorghiu, Radu
f732e08b-6cf3-4b50-9856-327d44c0be45
Roescu, Andra Maria
677ffb87-20b5-4cdd-a518-0b29e58aa16b
Curaj, Adrian
3f39d584-155c-4114-bfb0-29746ef342c5

Zulean, Marian, Andreescu, Liviu, Gheorghiu, Radu, Roescu, Andra Maria and Curaj, Adrian (2017) Romanian public administration reform 2.0: using innovative foresight methodologies to engage stakeholders and the public. Foresight, 19 (3), 261-279. (doi:10.1108/FS-09-2016-0047).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this practice-oriented paper is to look at a recent, late-phase development in public administration (PA) reform in Romania, specifically the drafting of the recently adopted national Strategy on Strengthening the Efficiency of Public Administration (2014-2020). In particular, the paper focuses on the opportunities and limits of outsourcing the building of the vision underlying the strategy and the prioritization of strategic objectives. The article’s story is also placed in the broader context of agencification literature and, more specifically, the involvement of executive agencies in policymaking. Design/methodology/approach: The paper describes the vision-building exercise, developed according to a script already tested in several sectoral strategy-making processes, and the objectives and procedure of the online participatory consultation by using an adapted real-time Delphi format (similarly tested in the recent past). Findings: The paper reports on the ways in which the output of the visioning process and of online consultations may be used to enhance a strategic process already underway. Originality/value: PA reform in post-communist countries has been among the most hotly debated, intensely pursued, yet seemingly elusive policy objectives of the transition and post-transition periods. Among pre-accession and then European Union (EU) member states, the need to get in and then to get involved in European policymaking provided some impetus for such reforms and also set substantial constraints, without however always adding much predictability or significantly streamlining the public sector. The paper contributes to this debate by proving an innovative method of devising a reform strategy by outsourcing the strategy-building process to an agency with the necessary know-how and experience.

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More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 12 June 2017
Additional Information: Publisher Copyright: © 2017, © Emerald Publishing Limited. Copyright: Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords: Agencification, Long-term strategic planning, Outsourcing, Strategy formulation, Visioning

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 447558
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/447558
ISSN: 1463-6689
PURE UUID: 94522d50-1a42-423e-ba88-a1eb0c5c1d27
ORCID for Andra Maria Roescu: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-4119-0296

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Date deposited: 16 Mar 2021 17:31
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:40

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Contributors

Author: Marian Zulean
Author: Liviu Andreescu
Author: Radu Gheorghiu
Author: Adrian Curaj

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