International Aid, Administrative Reform and the Politics of EU Accession

Book excerpt: This book provides a detailed analysis of the dimensions and dynamics of the role of international aid in the reform and capacity development of public service in post-communist Albania. It challenges the technocratic, results-based management frameworks used by aid organizations and reports of official donors operating in the country context, and offers a qualitative and critical assessment of the role of aid in administrative reform and capacity building. Secondly, the book highlights the specificity of the national politico-administrative context and its ability to modify the process of policy transfer from aid organizations to the Albanian bureaucracy. In doing so, it illustrates the domestic challenges in the transfer process towards policy learning and makes a valuable contribution to the debate over the (voluntary vs. coercive) administrative reform in Southeast Europe in relation to the politics of EU accession.