ROLUL CONSILIERILOR DEMNITARILOR ÎN ROMÂNIA: ÎNTRE EXPERTIZĂ ȘI ROL POLITIC

Abstract

In 1998, the law on ministers’ cabinets institutionalized the position of special advisers to the dignitaries, which allowed the prime-minister, ministers, secretaries of state, prefects, mayors, presidents of county councils and other dignitaries to hire personal counsellors to assist them in their activities. The paper investigates the background of these advisers. We aim to grasp a better understanding of the special advisers, such as their educational background, former professions, number of years in the office, and the roles they perform within dignitaries’ cabinets. A key focus of the paper is on analyzing the expertise they provide to the dignitaries, as previous research on Romania showed that they are carriers of political and administrative roles. We explore whether they are facilitators of communication process in a multi-level network of policy making, and whether they perform co-ordination responsibilities on the dignitaries’ behalf on some day-to-day activities.

Keywords

• ministerial advisers
• politicization
• romanian government
• politico-administrative relations
• political appointees.