With support from USAID’s Civic Engagement Project and the National Endowment for Democracy, the Metamorphosis Foundation, in collaboration with partners from the regional network of CSOs – Accountability, Technology and Institutional Openness Network in Southeast Europe (ACTION SEE), prepared an assessment of the state of good governance of the assemblies and executive branches of the central authorities of four countries from the Western Balkans – North Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The assessment is based on comprehensive empirical research based on the Openness Index and aims to determine to what extent the principles of good governance are respected in the region. This paper also provides an in-depth analysis of the work of the executive power and the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, but also a summary of the overall performance of the respective institutions in our region. The regional perspective serves as a reference for how the states in the region are progressing towards improving good governance and the rule of law that leads them to their strategic goal – EU membership.
The paper is enriched with practical recommendations on how the executive branch of power and the Assembly in North Macedonia can improve their respect for the principles of good governance in the future. The recommendations will be communicated to senior civil servants in all monitored institutions through meetings, as well as to the public through social media and public events.
The research was conducted between January 2022 and March 2022. The sample of targeted institutions consists of 51 institutions, including the Government/General Secretariat, 16 ministries and 33 randomly selected executive bodies within the ministries, as well as the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia.
The Government of North Macedonia is the most open, meeting 82.71% of the criteria for openness, followed by the Government of Montenegro with 58.16%. BiH is in third place with 49.58%. The Government of the Republic of Serbia is in the last place, meeting 37.96% of the criteria for openness.
This assessment is available in Macedonian, Albanian and English.
