Publications & Documents

This Digital Government Review of Türkiye explores how the Government of Türkiye can use digital technology and data to help the public sector become more responsive, resilient and proactive. It evaluates the efforts made so far by Türkiye in achieving digital government maturity by looking at governance, institutional capacities, digital skills, public service design and delivery, enabling building blocks and the strategic management and use of data. The review provides policy recommendations intended to help the Government of Türkiye fully benefit from digital technologies and data to realise the potential of the digital age in transforming the public sector and the services provided to the public.

This report examines the process for developing the Lithuania’s National Anticorruption Programme (NAPC) for 2022-2033. It assesses the NAPC’s past accomplishments as well as challenges in priority areas, and draws lessons for the coming period. It also highlights implementation gaps in at-risk areas and identifies opportunities for improving the design and implementation of the NAPC.

The OECD Public Governance Review of the Czech Republic identifies priority governance areas for reform in the Czech Republic and offers recommendations to strengthen the effectiveness, agility and responsiveness of the country’s public sector. The review first provides a snapshot on the effectiveness of the public administration and its capacity to address contemporary governance challenges, such as digitalisation and climate change. It then analyses a number of critical and priority public governance areas including citizen engagement, centre-of-government-led co-ordination and strategic planning, evidence-informed policy making in the Czech public administration, public administration at the local and regional level, human resources management in the public administration, and digital government. It also includes a case study on governance arrangements and regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The review provides recommendations for the Czech public administration to help it implement its Public Administration Reform Strategy: Client-oriented Public Administration 2030 (PAR), achieve the objectives of the PAR, and, ultimately, realise its longer-term sustainable development vision and commitments.

Subnational governments play a significant role in ensuring good public governance. The way that they are organised and function has a direct impact on the economic and social well-being of citizens and public trust in government. This report presents the system of multi-level government in the six Western Balkan economies, comparing them both with one another and in the context of broader international trends in multi-level governance. The report covers territorial and institutional organisation, competences of local governments, human resources and accountability, public financial management and vertical and horizontal co-ordination, in each case identifying key characteristics and recent trends.

The 2021 OECD Survey on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions provides a cross-country assessment of what influences people’s trust in government and public institutions, understanding people’s perception of the functioning of democratic institutions. Most of the drivers in the Trust Survey refer to government competences and values that help countries take concrete steps to rebuild trust. Both at the individual and country-level trust may vary due to cultural, economic and social factors. This paper analyses the open-ended survey responses in 16 OECD countries to understand two questions. First can the answers provide insights into cultural differences and extreme attitudes of distrust? Second, what dimensions influence trust that are not considered in the theoretical OECD Trust Framework underpinning the Trust Survey? The results of the topic model resemble closely the drivers in the Trust Framework, but respondents name not just government inputs, outputs, and processes, but also socioeconomic vulnerabilities, intergenerational and global challenges. While many respondents write that ''corruption'', ''money'' and ''power'' drives their trust in public institutions, these feelings are not associated with government transparency and accountability. These findings show the advantage of qualitative measurements (open-ended survey questions) to understand the complex relationship between trust and public governance.

This paper builds on the results of the OECD Trust Survey in Portugal to identify the main areas for improvement and guidelines for action to help Portugal reinforce trust and democracy and enhance public governance to address future challenges. The Portuguese government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis drew on lessons learned from previous crises, notably the plunge in public trust after the 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent economic austerity measures which shook the political system and considerably impacted economic and social well-being. Public trust has traditionally been heralded as crucial for public governance. However, to build resilience in the face of multiple social, economic and environmental crises, Portugal will need to set public trust as an explicit policy objective and better understand what drives it. Investments in building a competent and trusted civil service will also be needed to develop more responsive and better-informed policy responses.

Portugal managed to decouple several environmental pressures from economic growth over 2013-19. It played a leading role in the approval of the European Climate Law and adopted the Portuguese Framework Climate Law in 2021. This needs to be swiftly implemented to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, improve climate resilience and protect ecosystems. Portugal has stepped up adaptation efforts but needs to do more to address multiple threats, including coastal erosion, floods, droughts and forest fires. The country is lagging behind in waste management. Meanwhile, the increase in freshwater abstractions in water-scarce southern regions is a concern. This is the fourth Environmental Performance Review of Portugal. It provides an evidence-based assessment of the country's progress towards its environmental goals over the past decade. The 26 recommendations aim to help Portugal improve its environmental performance, giving special focus to carbon neutrality.

Anti-corruption agencies must mainstream integrity policies and procedures to safeguard their activities, achieve their objectives and build public trust in their functions. This report provides concrete recommendations for strengthening Bulgaria’s Anti-Corruption Commission’s Code of Ethics and its system for undertaking integrity checks of staff. Both these issues are key to creating a culture of integrity within the organisation. The report is part of an EU-funded project under the Technical Support Instrument Regulation and highlights relevant good practices from OECD member countries and provides tailored recommendations in Bulgaria’s context.

In New Zealand, the government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis is considered effective as it protected people’s lives with limited disruption to society and the economy. A key factor in achieving these results was a focus on collective goals, grounded in the high-trust relationship that exists between New Zealanders and their public institutions. Still, high levels of trust should not be taken for granted. As new challenges emerge and old ones reappear, people in New Zealand expect the government to build on the lessons from the pandemic to improve service delivery and the resilience of public institutions. This report provides recommendations for further strengthening trust, including making public services more responsive, integrating long-term thinking into policy making, countering the spread of mis- and disinformation and reinforcing New Zealand’s integrity system.