© OECD

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OECD, Paris

2-3 December 2013

4th ENP Networking

Seminar

Trust in Government and Public Institutions

to Improve Policy Outcomes in Poland

Mr. Jan Pastwa, Director

National School of Public Administration, Warsaw

Point of departure – deeply rooted lack of

trust:

• in the State (lack of own Polish state for more than 100 years –

including crucial 19th century)

• in the Government (1926-39 – authoritarian, 1944-1989 –

totalitarian)

• in the public structures (individualistic and family-oriented society,

weak NGO’s)

Worsened by lack of confidence:

• in business relations (in time of economic crisis)

• between people (political polarization)

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Trust-building measures in Poland –

“areas”:

• - “Democracy”

• - “Legislative”

• - “Judiciary”

• - “Executive”

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1. “Trust in area of democracy”:

• Transparent electoral system involving the population.

• Personal transparency of politicians and civil servants

(anti-corruption measures, ethics).

• Social (tripartite) dialogue on all levels.

• Real influence of local communities on local self-government

(incl. successful dismissal referendums).

• Supreme and Regional Audit Chambers’ publicly available

reports and execution powers.

• Public budget support for political parties, transparent rules

and limits of funding of electoral campaigns, impartial state

body control over political parties’ finances.

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2. “Trust in the legislative area”:

• Open, broadcasted and registered sessions of Parliament

and every local Council.

• Respect of opposition rights in composition of bodies and

performing their activities.

• State and local budgets in task-oriented format

(performance budget)

+ watchdogs allowed to look in and comment.

• Personal involvement and visibility of MPs and

Councillors.

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3. “Trust in the area of the judiciary”:

• Free and instant access to current and complete

legislation database provided by Parliament.

• Independence and professionalism of judges (recruitment,

appointment and management of judges careers and

disciplinary measures performed by their autonomous

bodies and overseen by independent National Judiciary

Council).

• Open courts’ sessions.

• Court and administrative (tax) rulings available on the

web.

• Enterprises and legal entities registers on the web

(+ no bearer shares !)

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4. “Trust in the area of the executive”:

• Transparency of governmental activities.

• Communication on all levels and by all available (including by the

latest) means.

• “Eyes wide open” policy of government (ACTA and “Mothers of 1st

Quarter” cases).

• Personal involvement and visibility of ministers and top officials.

• Public consultation in regulatory impact assessment and legislation.

• System of Strategy Documents publicly formulated, consulted and

reviewed.

• NGOs formally involved in policy development, design and

implementation.

• Citizens’, NGOs’, enterprises’ participation in decision-making process:

public policies, local solutions.

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4. “Trust in the area of the executive”(2):

• Publicly announced and consulted programs and summing-up

reports (e.g. S&ME support).

• Access to public information secured by law and practical

measures – unified Public Information Bulletin on the web.

• Budget transparency (efforts to make available the meaningful,

readable and digestible data on public funds).

• Public statistical data instantly and fully available.

• NGOs entrusted with performing public tasks.

• Administrative Procedure Code regulations on access and

involvement into process as well as on appeal rights.

• Public service measures – open and competitive recruitment,

transparent procedures, widely distributed codes of ethics.

• Constant care of the quality of public services.

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Results: “Longevity” of governments in

Poland since 1989:

• Tadeusz Mazowiecki 12.09.1989 – 12.01.1991 - 16 months

• Jan Krzysztof Bielecki 12.01.1991 – 23.12.1991 - 11 months 11 days

• Jan Olszewski 23.12.1991 – 5.06.1992 - 5 months 13 days

• Waldemar Pawlak 5.06.1992 – 11.07.1992 - 1 month 6 days

• Hanna Suchocka 11.07.1992 – 26.10.1993 - 13 months 15 days

• Waldemar Pawlak 26.10.1993 – 7.03.1995 - 14 months 12 days

• Józef Oleksy 7.03.1995 – 7.02.1996 - 11 months

• Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz 7.02.1996 – 31.10.1997 - 20 months 24 days

• Jerzy Buzek 31.10.1997 – 26.10.2001 - 47 months 26 days

• Leszek Miller 26.10.2001 – 2.05.2004 - 30 months 7 days

• Marek Belka 2.05.2004 – 31.10.2005 - 17 months 29 days

• Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz 31.10.2005 – 14.07.2006 - 8 months 14 days

• Jarosław Kaczyński 14.07.2006 – 16.11.2007 - 16 months 2 days

• Donald Tusk 16.11.2007 – now - 72 months + …

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Lessons learned:

• Feeling of trust by citizens is always rooted in recognition of

their own situation – you can use all very sophisticated

measures, but when economic or security situation worsens –

no matter if your own government is “guilty” – nothing will

work.

• Build trust not by declarations, but by facts (“Verba volant,

exempla trahunt”, “Trust but check”)

• It is not enough to install several separated solutions - only

certain “critical mass” of factors and their synergy can initiate

the positive process of increasing trust.

• Building trust takes time, but you can lose it in a day.

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Building trust is a never ending story

of the “civic vigilance”.

Needs constant concern,

learning “case by case”

and involvement of all representatives of

government – from top to bottom level.

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Questions? Comments?

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Thank you for your attention

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