Public Administration Organization and Management
This domain tests how North Macedonia organises and manages public administration: central bodies, local self-government, agencies, coordination, and management functions.
Core rules
- State administration bodies include ministries, independent bodies, and administrative organisations. Ministries are headed politically; the administration is professional.
- The Law on Organisation and Operation of State Administration Bodies sets competences and coordination. Overlapping competences must be resolved by legal mandate, not informal practice.
- Local self-government is exercised in municipalities, with the City of Skopje as a separate unit. Decentralisation transfers defined competences and resources.
- Public administration principles include legality, accountability, transparency, openness, efficiency, and service to citizens.
- Management functions include planning, organising, staffing, leading, and controlling. Performance should be measured against objectives, not activity alone.
- E-government and one-stop services aim to reduce administrative burden and discretion.
Worked example
Two agencies both claim to licence a health service. The correct analysis is to check the founding law and sector law for each body's competence. If the sector law gives the licence to the health ministry, the other agency cannot rely on its general remit. Coordination should produce a single lawful procedure, not duplicate fees. A citizen should not bear the cost of internal rivalry.
Traps
Do not confuse political accountability of ministers with the legal accountability of officials. Do not assume decentralisation means every local body is autonomous; central supervision remains lawful. Do not treat reorganisation as a substitute for process reform.