Vidinė savivaldybių decentralizacija Lietuvoje: gyvenamosios vietos deklaravimo funkcijos perdavimo seniūnijoms atvejis ; The internal municipal decentralization in lithuania: the case of the declaration of residence place to subdistricts

Abstract

The internal decentralization of local government is a type of reorganization of municipal management and (or) provision of public service when the power from higher hierarchical levels of entities is transmitted to lower hierarchical levels, or when the power is divided between few or the same numbers of hierarchical level of entities. This issue was chosen because it is a relatively new in Lithuanian public policy and therefore here is still a lack of case study of this matter. The relevance of the issue is strengthened by the fact that the results of implementation of the first phase of intra-municipal decentralization concept are a base for the goals and directions of the second phase. According to the European Charter of Local Self-Government, the Concept of Intra-municipal Decentralization, the law of Republic of Lithuania Public Administration, the internal municipal decentralization must be implemented by making effective decisions. The object of this paper work is the internal decentralization of local government in Lithuania: the case study of function transmission of residence declaration. The goal of this paper work is to assess whether the internal municipal decentralization started effectively in Lithuania. The term of effectiveness covers both economic (saving budget) and social (better representation of local community needs) aspects. This paper work examinates the case of function reporting of residence to the ward which is the highest intra-municipal decentralization project so far achieved. For achieving this goal the following main tasks were formulated: • According to various author's research review the key issues of intra-municipal decentralization and form a theoretical background – the assessment model of internal decentralization of local government performance. • To analyze the case of function reporting of residence to the ward under the formed model. • To analyze the influence of different interest groups and determine which interest groups mostly affect on the intra-municipal decentralization in Lithuania. The matter under investigation is: key question is – whether internal municipal decentralization which is started in Lithuania is being implemented effectively? Side-issue questions are: do the projects approved by Government maximize total welfare? What is the position of interest groups in respect of intra-municipal decentralization in Lithuania? The paper work hypothesizes two aspects: • Costs of intra-municipal decentralization implementation are higher than it's benefits. • Internal decentralization of local government – it is an alternative policy option to increase the number of municipalities rather than to ensure the better meet of local community's needs. Both hypotheses are confirmed so it can be stated that internal decentralization of local government is a specific direction of wider public policy management with its distinctive goals, targets and methods of implementation.