EIRP Proceedings, Vol 6 (2011)

Abstract

The paper aims at analyzing in a trans-disciplinary manner the institutional and functional changes
of the public administration under crisis. The current analysis looks in depth of the financial, economic, and,
more importantly, social crisis in relation to the reforms imposed by both the internal and external
stakeholders. The decision-makers have not taken into account the risk factors, triggering legislative
incoherence and instability due to the challenging and approval as non-constitutional of many such normative
acts by the Romanian Constitutional Court. The research objectives search to clear up the measures’
coherence in the context of a declining public budget and a negative growth period, when the shrunk public
funds need to be properly allocated. Therefore, the answer that our research is looking for should pertain to
the following concern: can the government’s actions be considered solutions to the problems raised by the
current context? The answers shall aim at both restoring the legal and economic balance, as defined in the
working hypothesis. The lax fiscal policy of the expenditures brings about an involuntary fiscal contraction in
the event of an economic downturn (Rosen and Gayer, 2010), as it was the case in Romania. Those lack of
prudence shall be addressed in our analysis, with specific reference to the already established literature
explanations involving the decision-makers trust in the „good days shall be around forever”, which triggers a
belief that the expenditures’ expansion can be permanent. Regarding the paper methodology, this study is
proceeding via bibliographical research, so that the reasoning behind the paper is clearly underlined as this
research is actually triggered by the radical changes made by both legislatures and practitioners as a response
to crisis. Further, the manuscript makes use of direct observation and legislative analysis and extensive
documentary research of national tax policy and statistics relevant for the timeframe 2009-2010. Further, a
comprehensive analysis of several interviews made with top officials of the Romanian Central Bank and the
Romanian Government is to be taken into account.