Evaluation of the Regional Public Authorities’ Activities

Abstract

The society expects from the public authorities an effective and responsible management aimed at meeting both needs of the society and the needs of individual citizens. An unsolved task is to develop a methodology for ensuring adequate and objective assessment of both results and related costs, as well as to ensure the comparability of the obtained estimates. The article shows evaluation methods of the public authorities’ activities and reveals the factors that explain the current situation. The authors propose indicators that meet current trends, in particular the concept of sustainable development, within which the world community is moving. The system of balanced indicators allows to link strategic goals and key indicators that measure the degree of their achievement in the regions. The formation of a perfect evaluation system for the public authorities activities includes monitoring the obtained results, their comparison with the forecast and plan under the condition of clearly defined costs in advance. This involves the use of a set of indicators, in particular: indicators that characterise economic and financial sustainability, those which assess institutional development, social transformation, environmental responsibility and energy efficiency. The influence of the public opinion makes any management process more or less public, so it is necessary to intensify the process of the public monitoring of the public authorities services’ provision, with further response or accumulation of the information for further consideration. Key words: evaluation; managemen; public authorities; region JEL Classification:   C13, H70, R58