A Users' Guide to Measuring Local Governance

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Index of Responsibility, Transparency and Accountability
(Macedonia)
Producer
UNDP with Macedonia’s State Commission for
Prevention of Corruption, Association of Local
Self-Government Units, Ministry of Local
Self-Government, State Audit Office, and other
national actors.
History
The Index of Responsibility, Transparency and
Accountability at the local level in Macedonia (RTA
Index) has been developed within the framework
of the UNDP project “Fighting corruption to
improve governance”. It was created in response to
the need for a tool to measure corruption at the
local level, within the context of an intensive
decentralisation process which confers an
increasing number of competencies upon local
governments.
Objectives
The overall objective of this Index is to increase
accountability, responsibility and transparency of
local governments, which will foster better local
governance at the local level. In particular,
the Index is designed to make measurable
assessments of the capacity of a given institution
to combat corruption, by identifying those ‘points’
most vulnerable to corruption, the specific
mechanisms that can be used to prevent
corruption, indicators measuring the effectiveness
of these mechanisms, and criteria to score these
indicators.
Applicability
The Index can be used as a mechanism for
self-evaluation by the local government, as a tool
used to identify the points that are vulnerable to
corrupt behaviour, as a way to increase the level
of accountability and transparency of local
governments, and also as a solid database about
local governance.
It has universal features that enable its application
to all Macedonian municipalities. With small
adjustments to the local context, it could be used
in other countries.
Types and sources of data used
Mainly based on objective information, including
available administrative data on budgets,
procedures and functions related to the local
public administration.
Methodology
Perceptions from experts and users of municipal
services have been used as an important
source in the design of the tool, namely to identify
corruption “hot spots” which need to be
monitored.
The Index covers three main areas of competence
of local government: urban planning, financial
management and property, and public procurement.
For each of these areas, the Index identifies four
aspects:
• 10 to 15 “hot-spots” or “critical points” for
corruption in local government,
• the corresponding anticorruption mechanisms
that can prevent the appearance of corrupt
practices
• the corresponding indicators of the existence
and proper functioning of such mechanisms.
• The scoring of indicators based on welldefined
criteria
Table 37 Presents examples of these four aspects
for each of the three thematic areas:
The final RTA Index value is obtained by the simple
arithmetic average value of the indicator scores.
Key actors/stakeholders
Although designed in a way that does not require
highly specialized skills for its implementation, at
the beginning it would be desirable to implement
the instrument by a specifically trained agency
before local self-government units start their
self-evaluation. This should be done in close coordination
with municipal authorities in order to
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