Self-governing regions in Slovakia administer over one billion euros a year – roughly 185 euro per capita. They bear responsibility for regional communications, education system as well as social, cultural and medical facilities. Transparency’s ranking shows how transparent are regions in spending and how open and accountable they are to their citizen.
Open Self Government: Regions 2011 is a transparency survey of the Slovak self-governing regions. It measures information availability and accessibility as well introduced anti-corruption measures in place in 11 policy areas. The survey ranges from 0 (least) to 100 (ideal case).
The survey highlights both strengths and weaknesses of Slovak regions, offering practical fixes for improvements.
Date for the survey data come from the official websites of the regions as well their replies to the Freedom of Information Requests. The evaluation took place during November 2011.
MORE ON THE PROJECT
Open Self-Government 2011, a survey of Transparency International Slovakia (Transparency), measures level of transparency, quantity and quality of provided information, anti-corruption measures and openness in 8 Slovak self-governing regions.
Data for the survey had been collected in three ways:
- Quality of Information on the region’s website (69,4 % of the total score)
- Replies to Freedom of Information Act (211/2000) requests filled by Transparency (26,1%)
- Replies to Freedom of Information Act (211/2000) requests filled by Transparency’s co-workers (“mystery shopping”)
POLICY AREAS ASSESED
Regions have been assessed and ranked in 11 areas. Areas assessed cover powers and duties vested with regions (e.g. public property sales and leasing) as well as policy areas deemed important by Transparency for good and ethical governance (e.g. ethics, conflict of interests).
Out of the areas selected, access to information, public procurement and property management were considered as the most important (see policy areas’ score weights below). For the greater part the survey assessed a presence of a given transparency tool (e.g. Do you use e-auctions? Yes/No). Results rendered are based on publicly accessible, easily measurable and verifiable data. Maximum score for a municipality including all areas was 100 points. Questions and scoring details are provided here.
| POLICY AREA |
SURVEY WEIGHT in % |
| Access to Information |
27,0 |
| Public Procurement |
16,0 |
| Public Property Sales and Lease |
11,5 |
| Budgeting |
10,0 |
| Municipal Businesses, Organizations and Invesments |
10,0 |
| Public Participation |
8,0 |
| Professional Ethics and Conflict of Interests |
5,0 |
| Human Resources |
4,0 |
| Grants |
3,0 |
| Land Use |
3,0 |
| Social Services |
2,5 |
RANKING AND GRADES
Overall ranking of a municipality ranges from 0 % (worst) to 100 % (best). Rankings for individual policy areas are included along the total score. For a quicker comparison, municipalities have been graded as in school, according to the following scale:
| GRADE |
% |
| A+ | 80-100 |
| A | 75-79 |
| A- | 70-74 |
| B+ | 65-69 |
| B | 60-64 |
| B- | 55-59 |
| C+ | 50-54 |
| C | 45-49 |
| C- | 40-44 |
| D+ | 35-39 |
| D | 30-34 |
| D- | 25-29 |
| E+ | 20-24 |
| E | 15-19 |
| E- | 10-14 |
| F | 0-9 |
Open Self Government: Regions 2011 is just an indicator of municipal openness. Although the ranking does not measure corruption, Transparency holds that higher score in the ranking and more transparent towns and cities provide fewer opportunities for corrupt behaviour. However, it cannot be ruled out that municipalities high up in the ranking are not corrupt and vice versa. Municipalities interested in obtaining more specific data and a more complete picture of their administration should consider Transparency’s Transparent town audit in a way cities of Martin, Prievidza, Žiar nad Hronom, Banská Bystrica and Bratislava-Ružinov did.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHORS
Local governments, their elected and appointed representatives and employees should see the Open Local Government 2011 ranking both as an appreciation of good work as well as motivation to improve their efforts to act in transparent manner and provide quality information. These efforts should be seen as a significant contribution to local economic development and quality of life improvement of their citizens.
Transparency plans to update survey bi-annually.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Open Self Government: Regions 2011 is sponsored by Open Society Institute, the Embassy of the United States in Slovakia and UNDP Regional Centre, Bratislava to whom we express our gratitude. We would also like to thank our intern, Juraj Spišák.
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AUTHORS OF THE APPLICATION
2011 application is based on the 2010 Open Self-Government application programmed by Knowerce (data and data interpretation) and buckle up (web and design). Data processes, modification of the design and content management system for 2011 was provided by MJCH.
CONTACT
Matej Kurian kurian@transparency.sk
Ivan Rončák roncak@transparency.sk
Gabriel Šípoš sipos@transparency.sk