PART III. LOCAL CIVIL SOCIETY
13. CONCLUSION
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strengthen citizens’ political culture in order to achieve the set goals of a political democracy. A major achievement of the transition so far is the fact that democratic institutions in Bulgaria have already recognized their enormous responsibilities with regard to strengthening citizens’ political culture. But this alone does not suffice. Now there must be an intensified and structured dialogue between citizens and institutions that allows for setting concrete and measurable goals and is based on the clear allocation of roles, responsibilities, and tasks on both sides. The degree to which the government succeeds in improving the quality of life of Bulgarian citizens will be very important, as it will set the conditions for upgrading the political landscape with new incentives, new entrants, and new ideas.
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the system of law enforcement and introducing efficient accountability mechanisms and rules to prohibit corruption among public servants and administrative officials.
Substantial progress is required in the effort to build a professional, competent, politically independent, and transparent public administration at the local level.
Political debate has already shifted its focus to issues of incremental improvement of the existing structure of democratic institutions, based on securing transparency, accountability, an anti-corruption environment, and the rule of law. Constructing sustainable democratic institutions involves finding a more effective means of citizen involvement. The local media have yet to create a venue for influencing local decisions on the basis of an informed public debate. The next area of CSOs’ activity will be to work intensely with local communities. This includes participatory involvement of communities, media, government units, CSOs, and other local action groups in the design and implementation of various development strategies and projects. Based on the 2003 election results, we have reason to expect new developments in the establishment of a much more diversified local political life. Despite the prevalence of representative over direct democracy in Bulgaria, the more politics becomes a contest between personalities and structural party capacities rather than divergent political programs, the more opportunities for local leaders will appear.
The following lists of strengths and weaknesses in specific areas are an attempt to present a simplified profile of the current state of local democracy in Bulgaria.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Local Democracy in Bulgaria
Autonomous Local Government
Strengths
• There is a wide ranging public consensus that independent and autonomous local government is of crucial importance;
• The legal autonomy of local self-government in Bulgaria has been established;
self-governed communities are politically independent from the central state administration;
• Legal foundations governing the authority and activity of local government have been laid; laws are constantly refined and improved;
• Central administration has transferred considerable competencies to local self- governments;
• Interaction between regional and local government is structured; no noticeable problems have occurred;
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• A fiscal decentralization program has been launched; corresponding legislative amendments have been made; local governments have increased their powers with respect to the determination of local fees.
Weaknesses
• Local government in Bulgaria functions under conditions of insufficient legal autonomy. The division of responsibilities between the central and local levels is not always clear;
• An anomaly exists between decentralization of service provision and the lack of corresponding fiscal decentralization, leading to persistent budget deficits. As a result, numerous powers of local self-governments have yet to be put to practice;
local governments are often unable to handle their extended responsibilities, either financially or technically;
• Tax reform has not been completed; municipal authorities have very limited autonomy in determining their own tax revenues; and
• Municipal budgets remain unstable; state budget transfers and the system of subsidies do not allow local authorities to plan their expenditures and revenues effectively. The revenues of local self-governments are insufficient and not efficiently managed.
The Constitutional Character of Local Government
Strengths
• Bulgaria has introduced legislation to protect human, civil, and political rights that comply with established European standards and international agreements;
• The building of adequate administrative capacity specializing in the integration of minorities is in progress; and
• Some progress has recently been made in obtaining court judgments against violations of human rights.
Weaknesses
• Laws are not always consistently applied and law enforcement remains inefficient, slow, and liable to corruption, generating low trust in the judiciary;
• The integration of minorities in local political and social life remains limited, apart from some sporadic examples and initiatives; and
• Insufficient administrative capacity and some practices of direct interaction between local business and local government still serve as a basis for violations of
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the law, which are ineffectively sanctioned because of the slow and unproductive judicial procedures.
Transparency and Accountability of Local Government
Strengths
• The laws requiring local representatives to account for their activities to local residents have been well designed and implemented in practice;
• Access to public information is guaranteed by special legislation and by municipal acts; established procedures are popular among citizens and stimulate regular requests for public information;
• Bulgaria has made considerable progress in establishing E-government on the municipal level. The majority of municipalities have advanced websites that are being regularly updated, although progress is slower in smaller municipalities;
• Contacts with media representatives are organized regularly and a structured system for the announcement of decisions of local representatives is in place;
• A number of acts have been introduced or amended to create a more stable anti-corruption environment, including the Law on Political Parties, the Public Procurement Act, the Act on Restriction of the Administrative Regulation and Administrative Control, etc.;
• The corruption index for local representatives and for municipal administrators in the period 2000–2003 has been fluctuating, exhibiting a slight tendency towards decreasing. Convictions for bribery-related cases began to occur, but the statistics may reflect lack of enforcement rather than low levels of bribery;
and
• A Registry of Public Procurement and Tenders, including those made by the municipalities, was established in 2000 and is updated on daily basis; the control over public procurement is centralized and carried out by the Public Internal Financial Control Agency.
Weaknesses
• There is still inadequate transparency concerning municipal budgets and some of the major policies of the municipalities;
• Despite existing opportunities, local residents are not yet sufficiently well informed about the activities of local representatives, mostly because of the low level of interest in local affairs;
• The Bulgarian state is considered to have high levels of corruption and clien-telism, but corruption at the local government level is a serious problem as well.
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Especially prone to corruption are the following: municipal procurement, licens-ing of economic and trade activities, rentlicens-ing and tenders for the reconstruction of municipal sites, tenders for the privatization of municipal property, and the supplying of municipal premises with fuel and consumables;
• Despite some progress in this respect, there are still no efficient mechanisms and rules for holding public servants and administrative officials accountable for acts of corruption;
• The current model for the distribution of competencies clearly implies a leading role for the municipal council, but established practice and the need for efficiency often lead to the mayor being the dominant decision-maker;
• The influence of party fractions and the local branches of political parties on local politics is high, while the influence of the other local actors (businesses, NGOs, local media, churches, the trade unions, etc.) on local policy is perceived to be low.
Effectiveness of Local Government
Strengths
• The majority of local self-governments in Bulgaria are now fairly effective at designing and implementing long-term economic programs, development plans, and action plans for the activities of the municipal council and its committees, and deciding on matters concerning the municipality.
Weaknesses
• The limited fiscal autonomy of local governments is unanimously considered to present substantial impediments to the planning and controlling capacity of local government;
• The deficit of administrative competence is considered a problem for all levels of public administration, including local governments; despite legal and administrative changes, continuity in services and professionalism are seriously lacking;
• Local authorities still need to improve the implementation of their projects and to tighten control over their performance; and
• The decision-making capacity of local governments is often affected by opportunistic mayor–council relations, insufficient information, the weak administrative skills of some mayors, and the low bargaining skills of various party fractions that make a consensus difficult to reach.
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The Representative Character of Local Government (Elections and Referenda)
Strengths
• Since 1999 local politics has achieved independence from the national agenda;
• A legal and administrative framework has been established that allows for effective democratic participation of citizens in local politics; and
• A tradition of free and fair elections has been established and maintained.
Weaknesses
• The turnout in local elections has been steadily declining, with the 2003 local elections reaching the lowest level since the beginning of the transition; and
• Local referenda as a form of direct participation of citizens in local public affairs have been held in only a few cases and with rather limited success.
Local Parties and Factions
Strengths
• The overall resilience of the established political patterns has been confirmed.
The current multiparty political system in Bulgaria is characterized by stability, predictability, and the democratic representation of the political interests of minority groups;
• Markedly different from other Balkan countries, Bulgaria has not permitted the birth of extreme nationalist or xenophobic political parties or movements, but has encouraged adequate representation of minority interests according to the established rule of law and principles of democracy;
• The party system is underpinned by a high degree of political consensus and widely shared political goals: accession to the EU, completion of the reforms, and the attraction of foreign investment. Political debate has shifted its focus to the incremental improvement of the existing structure of democratic institutions, through the securing of transparency, accountability, an anti-corruption environment, and the rule of law;
• Although still largely dominated by the major political parties through both their local offices and central headquarters, the local political spectrum now involves various actors and represents a plurality of interests;
• Civil society organizations have come to play an increasing role in local elections through the nomination of candidates for local representative; and
• Public discourse has become more intensified and attempts to secure a more structured environment for it have been made.
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Weaknesses
• In smaller municipalities, political parties have no branch offices; in an insignificant minority of municipalities there is no party represented;
• Citizens and civil society organizations have so far had a limited influence on local political life in Bulgaria.
Local Representatives
Strengths
• Minorities with an advanced political identity (the Turkish ethnic minority) are adequately represented in municipal councils;
• The level of education of local representatives has been high;
• A majority of representatives has practical political experience in working in local governance;
• One-fifth of all councilors and one-third of all mayors hold a position in a civic organization;
• Fundamental democratic values are shared by a majority of local representatives, including the values of free competition, protection of rights, private property, private ownership, and freedom of assembly; and
• New patterns of dialogue are emerging, which increasingly involve local businesses and civil society along with the decision-makers. This synergy becomes an important element of the new political culture of local representatives.
Weaknesses
• Women are not represented proportionally in elected positions at the local level;
they are not as prominent at the local level as they are at the national political level and in professional guilds;
• Minorities with a weaker political identity (mainly the Roma) are politically underrepresented in local councils;
• There is a high threshold level of political experience, which makes it difficult for younger candidates to launch a career in local politics. Having party credentials and previous experience in local government affairs are key factors assuring participation in local political life;
• A basic challenge for the political system is the low credibility of the executive and court systems and of individual politicians. A particularly serious concern is the low trust in courts; and
• Barriers to informed decision-making include the relatively underdeveloped communication channels, the insufficient ability to process information, the
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lack of data analysis skills, and the usage of limited rather than diverse sources of information.
Responsiveness of Local Governments
Strengths
• A commitment exists to create a responsive and transparent local government.
Steps have been taken to establish a clear delineation between the political and administrative levels of government, to improve the transparency and accountability of administration, and to set transparent criteria for the recruitment and promotion of civil servants. Innovative practices in this area are the Forums for Development and the introduction of quality management systems in local administrations;
• A large majority of citizens considers that municipal administrations provide services in an easily accessible format. The level of satisfaction with the quality of public services at the municipal level has risen 15% compared to 2003;
• One-third of the local civil society organizations have participated in the decision-making process of the local government;
• There is a generally high level of accessibility of mayors in Bulgaria; and
• Public gatherings are an important means of communication of local govern-ments with citizens.
Weaknesses
• Central and regional administrations still exert a high level of influence over the decision-making process at the local level; and
• The needs and expectations of citizens go far beyond what local governments can provide; the sense of inequality and injustice persists among the Roma minority.
Local Media
Strengths
• The media are becoming a strong influence in Bulgarian society and have expanded since 1990 both quantitatively (number of media outlets and titles) and qualitatively (protection of freedom of speech and pluralism in representation); and
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• The monitoring of local public life by the media has an established tradition in Bulgaria. In a large majority of municipalities there is at least one newspaper dealing with local public life. In most cases, the local or regional print media cover municipal public life. The national media mostly cover events in the big municipalities, except when some extraordinary local event occurs. ·
Weaknesses
• The role played by the media in facilitating communication between local governments and citizens in order to resolve specific local issues remains limited.
Although increasing in range, coverage, and professionalism, the local media have yet to create a space where a meaningful influence on local politics might occur;
• The local media mostly present the views and statements of local representatives and announce facts and decisions. This leaves insufficient room for an informed public debate on issues of local importance. The media in small municipalities become more engaged in municipal political life during elections or when scandals arise. In large cities the regional and national media tend to predominate;
• Given Bulgaria’s diversity, the representation of minorities in both national and local media remains insufficient;
• Compared to the print media that successfully divested themselves of direct governmental control, the electronic media (Bulgarian National Television and Bulgarian National Radio) are still not completely free from interference by the state; and
• The growth in number of print media outlets and of radio and television stations has not been matched by a growth in the advertising market, thus leading to the segmentation of media markets.
Local Civil Society Organizations
Strengths
• Bulgaria’s civil sector now has undisputed sustainability, increasing influence, and is widely accepted as “a permanent force in the country, actively representing citizens’ interests and providing needed services;”
• Ethnic groups have found representation in civil society organizations in Bulgaria; and
• A considerable number of civil society organizations have established themselves as participants in the decision-making processes, cooperating with government bodies at various levels, participating in joint work with the legislative and
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the executive branches, and engaging in advocacy campaigns. Certain newly institutionalized forms of policy dialogue between local representatives and civil society organizations have already begun to appear, e.g., the Forums for Development and the institution of ombudsman.
Weaknesses
• Although civil society organizations have become increasingly influential at the central and regional levels, their role in local public life is limited to working together with local representatives on specific issues and on larger projects and programs;
• Bulgarian legislators have not yet succeeded in providing favorable conditions such as tax benefits that would encourage businesses to support civil organizations;
• Local financial and in-kind support for civil society organizations remains relatively low, although it is continually increasing;
• A stable, institutionalized framework for cooperation between local governments and civil society organizations has not yet been created; and
• The percentage of civil society organizations contracted to provide public services remains low, with some exceptions.
Citizens’ Political Culture
Strengths
• Clear examples of the developing political culture can be observed in the most recent political profile of Bulgaria. A new political value system has been formed, one that has evolved away from dependent attitudes and rejects all forms of socialism; and
• Democratic institutions in Bulgaria have already recognized their enormous responsibilities with regard to strengthening citizens’ political culture.
Weaknesses
• There is a growing gap between popular expectations of the democratic system and the political elite’s own agenda. Antiparty sentiments among Bulgarian citizens are increasing and trust in local representatives is decreasing;
• Citizens’ participation in local politics remains weak. The relative lack of public participation in local political life apart from electoral activities demonstrates that knowledge and experience in using the tools of direct local democracy are still underdeveloped.
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