Administrative reform and debates over public agencies' role in Serbia

Abstract

Over the past 10 years, there has been a proliferation of agencies in the Serbian public sector with varying degrees of independence and delegation by the government. Agencification in Serbia has been rarely discussed in scholarship, and in most recent public debates it is often criticized as being 'an unnecessary budgetary burden', a 'grave threat to democracy' and the 'party-based atomization of state administration '. In the context in which Serbia is in need of a larger government in order to consolidate democracy, improve respect for human rights and enhance economic development, the agencies have also become collateral public damage from the mantra of the 'requirement to save'. Having in mind that Serbian economic and political development over the past decades has been more than troublesome, this article looks into the public perception of agencification and related political debates, including some policy proposals. The article offers preliminary explanations of possible causes of the specific perception of agencies in the Serbian public, as well as an account of the consequences of current perceptions of agencification. Special emphasis is put on the de-legitimization of the authority of scientific knowledge in society.