INCLUSIVE ADMINISTRATION DELIVERING PUBLIC SERVICES IN CO-OPERATION WITH VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS

Transcription

1 INCLUSIVE ADMINISTRATION DELIVERING PUBLIC SERVICES IN CO-OPERATION WITH VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS Krzysztof Szczerski PhD Jagiellonian University, Krakow Poland One of the most important features in current reforms of public administration in different countries is the tendency to involve citizens into the process of performing public duties. Building the inclusive administration or the partnership administration can be seen both as a endeavour to find new, or rather revived, legitimisation for political institutions and as a way to ameliorate standards and accessibility of public services (Miller, 1993). The special role in this process is given to the voluntary organisations - the third sector - which is becoming a significant partner for public authorities and public administration on different levels of government. In the same time, politics and economics look at the voluntary organisations as a sector of noteworthy potential job-creating capacity (so-called social economy ) and the way the motion of citizenship is redefined in modern state. In the countries of Central and Eastern Europe a major pressure to reform the public administration, form a considerable challenge. Generally speaking there are two ways in which governments are trying to rationalise and economise deliverance of public services. The one leads through privatisation and contractual vision of securing public duties, the other may be found in the inclusive administration. The paper describes the main characteristics of social economy, basically focusing on voluntary organisations, and the possibilities and challenges to build vital partnership between public bodies and the third sector. As a case study the paper finishes up with some data about Polish voluntary organisations and their co-operation with state administration. Chapter 1: Social economy - voluntary organisations The motion social economy emerged from the French language as a way to describe the part of market activities, which cannot be classified in the dichotomy vision of free-market vs. public sector (OECD 1996, Laville 1994). Indeed, in modern societies there is a big number of initiatives such as co-operatives, mutual societies, and voluntary organisations which are active in delivering services, producing and fulfilling social needs. They are neither SMEs nor public agencies. Who are they, then? Although, the sector of social economy is very difficult to delimit or define, due to very significant differences among its subjects, one can find some characteristics, which are common and can form a basic definition of the sector. The social economy consists of institutions (in sociological meaning of this word a group of people with common framework and shared values ) for which delivering public services is seen as a crucial mission statement. 1

2 In describing the sector one should focus mostly on how the institution is working and not on what goods are actually delivered. From that perspective it can be said that social economy is always rooted in bottom-up initiatives, the genuine republicanism or citizenship. That is why is most cases it can cover the real needs of the people who are targeted by its activities. Most of the social economy institutions are small or medium-scale projects sketched for resolving very specific problems. This is the way they find their niche in the market of global production and the state-organised services. To differentiate a social economy, one can use the comparison between the words: shareholders and stakeholders. Shareholders are typical for pure market economy their goal is to multiply the income and to safeguard their ownership, which lead to policy of exclusivity. Stakeholders should characterise both social economy and public politics. There are gathered around common good, the idea of their work is to admit as many as possible, to build network of similar institution in order to resolve the problems or to share experiences. The social economy is based upon human resources and human capital while market economy is build on hard capital. That is why the most important for social economy are human relations, community, co-operation and readiness to share. From the politics perspective, the most important part of the social economy sector is the voluntary organisations. At one end of the spectrum, the world of voluntary organisations merges imperceptibly into the tissue of everyday social, community, and family life. At the other end can be found great institutions of enormous national and even international importance such as universities, hospitals, research and cultural institutions, which many people are accustomed (erroneously) to think of as straightforward "public" bodies. The European Commission in its Communication (EC 1995) has described the voluntary organisations as having varying degrees the following features: a) they are distinguished from informal or ad hoc, purely social or familial, groupings by some degree, however vestigial, of formal or institutional existence; (b) they are non-profit-distributing, that is to say they have purposes other than to reap profits for their management or members; (c) they are independent, in particular, of government and other public authorities, that is to say free to govern themselves without interference according to their own rules and procedures; (d) they must be managed in what is sometimes called a "disinterested" manner. The use of this term is meant to indicate not just that voluntary organisations must not themselves be profit-seeking, but also that those who manage them ought not to do so in the hope of personal gain; (e) they must be active to some degree in the public arena and their activity must be aimed, at least in part, at contributing to the public good. The most significant in description of voluntary organisations as a possible partner for public authorities is the general overview of the types of their activities. 2

3 The third sector is active in several areas traditionally identified with the public administration duties, such as social services, health care, training, information, advice or support, self-help or mutual aid. From the other side the voluntary organisation can for a group of advocacy: i.e. organisations whose purpose is to campaign, lobby, and otherwise argue on behalf of some cause or group with the aim of changing public perception or policy. The third important role of the NGOs are their activities as so-called "intermediary bodies", which co-ordinate the activities of, or provide information and support to, either individual organisations working in a particular field or to the sector in general. Such organisations fulfil the important function of providing an interface between the sector and public authorities. Chapter 2: The importance of the voluntary organisation as a partner for public administration The European Commission s survey based on the one of John Hopkins University, Baltimore shows that voluntary organisations and foundations command sizeable assets and mobilise large human resources, both salaried and volunteer (Salamon, Anheier 1996, EC 1995). The study found that: in Germany the sector accounts for 3.7% of total employment and 10% of total service employment. That is no less than a million people. The non-profit sector is especially important in health: 40% of the hospital patient days are provided by the sector, as are 60% of the residential care facilities. In France 4.2% of the employed work in the sector or over 10% of the total employed in the service sector. In all some 800,000 people are employed. Non-profit organisations look after over half of those in residential care and about 20% of primary and secondary school students. Nonprofits are especially prominent in social services and in sport where 80% of those with sporting interests belong to non-profit clubs. In Italy nearly 2% of the employed work in the sector or over 5% of those employed in the service sector. In total the sector, which is prominent in social services, employs about 400,000 people. Non-profits run 20% of kindergartens and over 40% of residential care facilities. In the UK 4% of the employed work in the sector or over 9% of those in the service sector. Altogether about 900,000 people are employed in the sector, which plays an especially important role in the provision of research and education: - all colleges are run by non-profits, as are 22% of primary and elementary schools. Finally, the figures for non-profit operating expenditures as a percentage of gross national product are no less impressive: 2% in Italy; 3.3% in France, 3.6% in Germany and 4.8% in the UK Moreover it is in terms of employment growth that the most interesting facts of all emerge. What the study found - in any event in France and Germany where figures were available - was that over the decade from 1980 to 1990 the sector has been a powerful creator of employment. In France the sector accounted for one out of every seven new jobs created in that decade and in Germany one out of every eight or nine. 3

4 The figures demonstrate clearly that the sector has shown itself capable of opening up new opportunities contributing not just to improving the quality of life but also employment and economic growth. There are no accurate figures of knowing how many persons in the European Union are members of voluntary organisations but, on the basis of some its member states estimates it is commonly reckoned to be somewhere between a third and a half of the population, approximately a hundred million. Chapter 3: Inclusive administration social and political role The growing importance of third sector and the possible role of voluntary organisation in modern politics have gained support form different ideological perspectives. The idea of involving citizens into the public duties performance can be seen both as a way to build a social solidarity, social justice and to fight social exclusion, which is close to the left-wing ideas as well as a modern realisation of conservative-liberal and republican ideas of intermediate bodies, natural social environment and a support for natural human activity contrary to the state-dominated policy in the welfare-state. The partnership between public administration and voluntary organisation is therefore a crosspolitics idea based on the principles, which is now incorporated throughout political spectrum. These principles are subsidiarity, open society, democracy, freedom and citizenship (Wright 1994, Pestoff 1998). The main assets brought to public policies by voluntary organisations can by sum up by the following characteristics: 1. they focus their agenda on the values like human rights, environment protection, health, solidarity and in this way they fulfil the vacuum of everyday politics; 2. they are able to act in very specific situations and therefore they bring help or assistance in the places public administration is to general to act; 3. their services are usually cost-effective and responsible and can ease public administration from significant part of public duties in the manner of contracting, which guarantee satisfaction for both sides; 4. they also form a basis for expression of public concerns and needs towards authorities which focused on resolving problems rather than contestation; 5. they are one of the main innovative force inside public bodies; 6. they are very effective tool of public control over political institutions.(report 2001) For many people being active in voluntary organisations provides means through which they can express their sense of citizenship, and demonstrate an active concern for their fellows and for society at large (Lisicka 2002). Voluntary organisations foster a sense of solidarity and of citizenship, and provide the essential underpinnings of democracy. The existence of a well-developed third sector is an indication that the 4

5 democratic process has come of age. For many people participation in a voluntary organisation may be their only experience of democratic processes outside of the normal electoral framework. Their contribution to the effectiveness with which representative democracy functions is also significant. Above all, they now play an essential part as intermediaries in the exchange of information and opinion between governments and citizens, providing citizens with the means with which they may critically examine government actions or proposals. They also address public authorities in their turn with expert advice, guidance on popular views, and essential feedback on the effects of their policies. One can also look at the historical influence and achievements of voluntary organisations. It is to voluntary organisations (and to the churches) which we owe the origins of many of the services such as education, health and social services, which we take for granted today. Their contribution to the development of social and political ideas, and to the intellectual climate in which we now live, has been similarly immense. Voluntary organisations and foundations have played a vital role in the dissemination of scientific ideas and of technological developments and have provided forums for the exchange of thinking across the whole range of human concerns. Some major social and political movements derives from the third sector action especially in the fields of human rights and the dignity of the human person, and for the preservation of our cultural heritage and of the natural environment. Many promote a spirit of solidarity on behalf of the less favoured in different aspects of life. They have played a major role in the mobilisation of public opinion in favour of development, as well as providing much needed emergency help and food aid in times of crisis, often showing heroism working in troubled regions. Chapter 4: Partnership with the public administration challenges and opportunities The above-mentioned fields of third sector activities and its political role place this sector in the centre of public administration interest and duties. It is then very surprising that despite this public authorities in countries around Europe have not on the whole acknowledged their responsibility to ensure that the sector is as well placed as possible to make its distinctive contribution to the public good. There are several standards which should be look at, while building long-time partnership between public administration and voluntary organisations. They ca be sum up by the following: 1. public administration should avoid trying to dominate over third sector by breaking independence of civil partners 2. voluntary organisations should agree on higher degree of control concerning public money given to their disposal 3. public administration should treat voluntary organisations as partners not as clients, which demands more openness and positive attitude towards organisations of public advocacy 5

6 4. partnership between public authorities and voluntary organisations requires clear general framework to secure transparency specially in the field of public financial support 5. voluntary organisations should not seek for partnership for private reasons of their members 6. voluntary organisations must be ready for verification of their activities and financial status by authorised public institutions 7. voluntary organisations should be democratically governed and be open for everyone who wants to enter and who can fulfil public membership criteria.(report 2001) One of the greatest problems facing policy makers is the present serious lack of information about the sector. In an important sense, policymaking has also been inhibited by the structure of government itself, and in particular by the habit of public authorities of relating to associations and foundations as suppliers of services to particular client groups or as interlocutors in particular subject areas. Social service departments have contact with organisations supplying social services, environment departments with those, which are active in the environmental field, and so on. Over a period of time, such departments and their officials can acquire a close and detailed knowledge of the particular organisations with which they deal. Within government as a whole, however, such knowledge as departments may acquire remains fragmented. For the most part it is rare for public authorities to have an overview of the sector as a whole or of its needs, or of significant developments within it. The same phenomenon has no doubt also been one of the factors which in a number of Member States has inhibited the growth of a "broad sectoral" consciousness amongst voluntary organisations and foundations themselves. The urgent need now is for public authorities to complement their "vertical" approach and to begin to look seriously at "horizontal" issues affecting the sector as a whole with a view to developing appropriate policies. At the same time, the public role of voluntary organisations and foundations needs to be acknowledged and the acceptance of the sector as a full partner in the debate on all policy and implementation matters which concern them, needs to be actively encouraged at all levels. The European Commission has stated several proposal towards the member states of the European Union in order to build-up more effective partnerships between public administration and the third sector, which have general significance. Those proposals consider: knowledge, involvement, legislation, training and information (EC 1995). First of all, public authorities should acquire a much deeper knowledge and understanding of the sector at all levels. Secondly, it is important that voluntary organisations are given the opportunity to be involved in planning services and policy making with public authorities at all levels. Relationships between voluntary organisations and public authorities should be clearer and new partnerships developed. Partnership between voluntary organisations and governments will involve contractual arrangements between individual voluntary organisations and public authorities, which will properly involve their own constraints. But whatever relationship they may have with governments, voluntary organisations and 6

7 foundations are independent of government and must remain so. Public authorities should review public policy and make proposals about what would need to be done for policy to help the voluntary sector to increase its capacity and where relevant to improve its skills in order that it can best fulfil the new roles it is being called on to address. Across Europe the law governing voluntary organisations and foundations should be re-examined. The competent authorities should look through the scope that exists for clarifying and adjusting legal frameworks so that they are conducive to the voluntary sector fulfilling its full potential at national, regional and local levels. That also applies to the taxation rules applicable to the sector, which have to be clear and simple and incentives as well as exemptions have to be studied attentively. Any individual tax treatment has to be justified in relation to the constraints specific to this sector and to its method of internal organisation that differentiates it from traditional economic actors. Positive legal and fiscal regimes are important for the growth of the sector in each country, as well as to ensure public accountability. However, public authorities should also ensure that the sector is seen positively by society and that funding by public authorities, the corporate sector and private donations are encouraged. The growth of the sector has not been matched by an increase in training to help voluntary organisations develop their skills and expertise in order to meet new needs. All too often, training budgets are the first to be hit when funding becomes difficult to obtain and voluntary organisations are asked to cut costs. Public authorities should ensure that voluntary organisations are given adequate training in order to provide the services and do the work that is being increasingly asked of them. Voluntary organisations and foundations have a clear interest in being associated closely with information society developments. The participation of voluntary organisations and foundations in pilot projects, particularly in the applications field, should be encouraged. Chapter 5: Partnership between voluntary organisations and public administration the case of Poland There are about 45,000 voluntary organisations (NGOs foundations and associations) registered in Poland. They declare themselves being mostly involved in work in health care and rehabilitation (20%), social assistance and charity work (17%), educational activity (16%), arts, culture, heritage preservation, traditions (11%) (KLON/JAWOR 2001). The gathered data shows that 24% of adult Poles declare working in at least one voluntary organisation in their spare time (the question concerns participation in the work of the organisation, not just membership). The third sector employs over 100,000 staff, which is slightly over 1% of nonagricultural employment in Poland. Apart from that, 87% of the voluntary organisations work with volunteers to various degrees (KLON/JAWOR 2001). The most significant part of funds for the third sector comes from public sources. Almost 77% of the organisations consider public (local and central government) sources of funding to be important to their work, and 72% mention donations from individuals and companies. Ministries and central government 7

8 agencies planned to spend 0.18% of their combined budgets on tasks delegated to voluntary organisations in the year 2001 (Report 2001). The survey shows also the biggest problems facing the third sector in Poland, as seen from its own perspective. It is important that three out of five major challenges come from the political system. They are: a lack of the voluntary organisation s representation to become a partner for public authorities, inadequate legislation and a lack of co-operation with public administration (KLON/JAWOR 2001). In the countries like Poland, which are in the period of fundamental political, social and economical transformation, the role of voluntary organisations has additional specific characteristics. The third sector not only plays important role in the delivering services but also is the main field of people s public self-organisation and can be seen as the first step towards overcoming the dichotomy between public life and private closet which was typical for communist societies. In Poland the most important institutional actors in politics during the year 1989 and so were not political parties, which came later, but so-called the Citizens Committees (Komitety Obywatelskie) first major voluntary organisations active in public. Another important role of voluntary organisations as a partners for public administration is that of bringing everyday life, practical experiences to policies in different fields, especially the social one. The very specialised knowledge accumulated in the third sector cannot be overestimated for drafting legislation in the countries under transformation. The third significant political character of the sector is its function as public control institutions with significant public trust. Voluntary organisations have a vital task in bringing or denying legitimisation for public authorities. This is especially important in newly established democracies. Last, but not least of the sector characteristics in the countries of the CEE is the way they can secure social stabilisation and rudimental security for large numbers of people in very poor situation which they have to usually in their late years of life. Analysing the problems concerning possibility to build the inclusive administration in Poland on the basis of vital co-operation between public authorities and voluntary organisation, several points comes out as major challenges. Partnership between public administration and the third sector in Polish law is secured firstly by the Constitution, which among the fundamental values of the political system written in its Preamble includes principle of social dialogue and subsidiarity. However, in the practical legislation there are several obstacles for realisation of those principles. One have to admit that they are still quite well written in the basic laws governing public administration which say, e.g. that single minister as well as government, in order to fulfil its duties, co-operate with several categories of partners including voluntary organisations. The third sector is mentioned in different 8

9 particular bills concerning education, healthcare, social security, although only as a minor partner for public administration (Report 2001). Current legal regulations do not provide a clear framework for the public sector to fund voluntary organisations through grants and contracts. A draft law on non-governmental organisations and volunteers is being consulted for years now. The new government will most probably support the introduction of new legal regulations. This legislation is designed to regulate the access to public funding and other important issues, such as the introduction of Public Benefit Organisations and regulations on the status of volunteers. Access to local public funds is very much dependent on particular interests and is politically bounded. Additional work is needed to develop a consistent, nation-wide mechanism for local governments to form a partnerships with the third sector and devolve responsibilities for service delivery through contracting. According to the organisations themselves, their co-operation with local administration is still in the sphere of declarations than real action. It is important obstacle especially after the year 1998 when Poland has successfully completed public administration reform that decentralised administration and gave most public services responsibilities to self-governments. Local authorities usually do not have a policy regarding voluntary organisations, so there is little space for vital partnership. However, it seems that, compared with other countries from the region, the situation is relatively good and diverse it concerns political, financial and technical issues. Polish voluntary organisations provide basic social services, such as education, health-care, and social assistance. In addition, many organisations engage in activities to promote culture, environmental protection, and the rights of underprivileged groups such as women and minorities, and human rights. Other organisations are involved in job creation and other activities (KLON/JAWOR 2001). In essence, voluntary organisations see themselves as being stuck in a vicious circle: they do not get contracts for services because of their poor standards, but they are unable to improve their standards unless they begin contracting services. There is a great need to build mechanisms to contract services on the open market for all three sectors. Conclusion Introducing inclusive administration is still a challenge for politics in most of the countries in the CEE. However all main ingredients are already there. Voluntary organisations are active and they deliver large number of public services. Public authorities have got legislative obligations to co-operate with civil society institutions. Therefore it seems that the main obstacle in the process of realising partnership between public administration and voluntary organisations lays in the habits and mentality of both sides. 9

10 From the point of view of public bodies the most important problem may be defined as apprehension for openness and competition in the field of services which bring more pressure for better deliverance. Public administration should look at the third sector as a potential strategic partner in resolving social problems especially growing problem of marginalisation and as an innovative way for creating new job opportunities. This requires a change of attitude towards voluntary organisations from a perception as minor brothers and clients to real partnership perspective. The third sector organisations have the major dilemma to make their minds up: whiter to sctructurise and formalise themselves as well as to open-up for external financial control necessary to deal with public money and public duties or to stay more action-orientated and less stable but in the same time more free. Voluntary organisations have also build-up internal framework of control to eliminate possibilities of fraud and misgovernment in the sector to gain more public trust needed to perform public duties. Bibliography: Lane L.M. (1998), Individualism, civic virtue and public administration In Administration and Society, vol. 20, no 1. Laville J.L. (Eds.) (1994). L economie solidaire. Paris: Desclee de Brouwer H. Lisicka (2002), Udział społeczeństwa w realizacji usług publicznych w Polsce, In Ferens A. and Macek I. (Eds.) Administracja publiczna w procesie przemian. Wrocław: Miller H.T. (1993). Everyday politics in public administration In American Review of Public Administration, vol.25, no 2. Müller W. (1994), Political traditions and the role of the state In Müller W, and Wright V. (Eds.) The State in Western Europe. Retreat or Redefinition? special issue of West European Politics, vol. 17, no.3: Pestoff V.A.(1998). Beyond the Market and State Social Enterprises and civil democracy in a welfare society. Ashgate: Aldershot Pierre J. (1993). Legitimacy, institutional change and the politics of public administration in Sweden In International Political Science Review, vol. 14, no 4. Salamon L.M. and Anheier H. (1996). Social Origins of Civil Society: Explaining the Non-profit Sector Cross- Nationally. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Wright V. (1994), Reshaping the state: The implication for public administration In Müller W, and Wright V. (Eds.) The State in Western Europe. Retreat or Redefinition? special issue of West European Politics, vol. 17, no.3: Co-operation between government administration and non-governmental organisations in 2001, report by the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Republic of Poland, Warsaw 2001 Sustainability of the Polish Third Sector 2001, report by KLON/JAWOR Association, Warsaw 2001 Communication on Promoting the Role of Voluntary Organizations and Foundations in Europe, European Commission: Brussels 1995 Reconcilier l economique et le social. Vers une economie plurielle, OECD: Paris

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