No. 40-41 (2001): Decentralization, of human resources and public investment

The Revista Centromérica de Administración Pública has distinguished itself by documenting recent advances in the processes of Reform and Modernization of the State, exposing the benefits and limitations of the measures and public policies promoted in the various fields of governmental activity.

In this sense, the current review of Central American public administration shows a strong pressure derived from the intense changes that have occurred in the public sphere. Indeed, in recent decades there has been a significant transformation in the institutional profile of the State, which has led to changes in public management, with the appearance of new objects of general interest, generated by the development of emerging needs in terms of welfare and social coexistence, highlighting for the purposes of these issues of the Central American Journal, the following three renewal processes: decentralization, improvement of governmental human resources and public investment.

* With respect to the first, progress has been made in political-administrative decentralization, with special emphasis on legal and regulatory aspects and municipal strengthening, while fiscal decentralization, transfer of competencies and intergovernmental relations constitute challenges to be continued, and new opportunities are emerging to activate options for deepening in this area.

* The modernization measures introduced in the field of public employment and human resources management in the Region have been slow and have made little progress. However, proposals and technical designs have been promoted concerning the Civil Service Regime and the civil service, which are awaiting political decisions, and which show the various possibilities for addressing this sensitive issue.

* In terms of the reorientation of public investment in general, significant adjustments have been made, taking into consideration both the role of the State and economic policies, with the aim of promoting economic and social development with broad participation of the private sector, and based on the creation of national public investment systems in all the countries of the Area, as guiding bodies dedicated to boosting their management.

This publication brings together different perspectives on these three aspects, and constitutes an effort to systematize and disseminate the achievements and products of improvement investments in these matters, so that more and more professionals, academics and the general public may have elements that allow them to better understand the relevance of the sustainability of innovations for the purposes of modern public management, as well as the importance of citizen participation, argued with informed and constructive positions, in the feedback of instruments, mechanisms and instances dedicated to government administration.