About

The performed study arises from the conclusion that the implementation of public policies, programmes and projects (hereinafter: PPPP) is one of the weakest areas of the functioning of Slovenia and its public administration in terms of the institutional and governance/implementation aspects. The claim is supported by a number of international studies, the overly slow pace of implementation of European directives, etc. The study’s theoretical aspect relies on already established theories, such as institutional theory, system theory, theory of rational choice and good governance theory.

Irrespective of the content of individual policies, the governance is implemented on two levels, i.e. (1) political and institutional, and (2) administrative and implementational or instrumental levels. The two levels operate in fundamentally different ways. The first level is largely in the domain of politics, which implements its guidelines through the government and parliament. The proposed project was focused on the second, i.e., the administrative and implementational level, which realizes politically or institutionally set goals and priorities reflected in numerous PPPPs through the administrative apparatus (public administration authorities).

We are lacking comprehensive analyses of the situation and weaknesses in the area of implementation and efficiency of the PPPP in Slovenia. There are virtually no attempts to unify approaches, develop PPPP streamlined monitoring and efficiency evaluation methodology. The PPPP performance indicators are rarely applied, and IT support of the PPPP implementation processes is weak. The existing instruments allow us to only partially assess the state of public policies. The issue is markedly interdisciplinary. The available tools are inadequate for the competent preparation and even more so for the monitoring and evaluation of the PPPP. We need interdisciplinary and systemic solutions that enable the integration of key aspects in terms of the PPPP preparation and implementation, in particular from institutional, normative, economic/financial and organizational/IT perspectives.

The aim of the project was to create a streamlined methodology and a generic integrated model to support the implementation and efficiency evaluation of the PPPP based on the analysis of the situation in Slovenia and comparative studies of approaches in certain EU countries. Support the model with a catalogue of indicators for monitoring and implementation of the PPPP in arbitrary areas.

Verify the model in the real environment of the Slovenian ministries in at least three selected PPPPs. The key added value of the proposed model is the integration of various aspects of the PPPP implementation (process, economic/financial, normative/regulatory). Support the model with a system of related and vertically compatible indicators, which would facilitate efficiency evaluation and feedback loop in the PPPP implementation system, i.e. an appropriate action.

The proposed study was based on the experiences and approaches of the KRONOS project, completed in 2014 (http://www.kronos.si/), which focused on the development of indicators to evaluate policies, programmes and projects by eGovernment.

Keywords: PPPP, indicator, pdca, public policy, public governance, public policy analysis, policy, agenda setting, public administration, public management, public finance, research and development indicator, R&D indicator, regulatory impact analysis, RIA, catalog of indicators, catalogue of indicators, benchmark, agenda definition, decision making definition, governance, monitoring and evaluation, plan do check act, public sector, social impact, social policy