General Principles and Challenges of Public Administration Organization in Serbia

This chapter provides an overview of the functioning and organization of public administration in Serbia. It begins by outlining the constitutional foundations underpinning the operations and structure of public administration, as well as its relations with other state powers, specifically the mutual checks and balances. The chapter further describes and analyses the organizational principles and structure of public administration, with an emphasis on its division into state (ministries and other administrative state authorities) and non-state administration (territorial autonomy, local self-government, public agencies, institutions, and enterprises) and their relationships. At the end, the author designates the key theoretical, practical and politically sensitive issues that the Serbian administration faces today, such as impediments to the professionalisation of public administration, challenges regarding decentralisation, the proliferation of public agencies, and the politically controversial subject of the scope of autonomy of Vojvodina, as one of Serbia’s provinces.

KEYWORDS public administration, state administration, local government, public services, Serbia