Local government in Armenia: review and analysis of four-year community development programs

Abstract

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union Armenian local government has been passing a very long and hard path to become a strong public institution closest to the people, capable to provide quality services and address the needs of its constituents. In order to reach this benchmark Armenian local governments still need to improve the quality of their strategic planning, particularly four-year development programs, which are the consolidated plans for operation for the term of their office. The study aims to explore whether the four-year development programs elaborated by the Chief of the community and approved by the newly elected Community Council address the pressing needs of the communities and whether the process of drafting, adopting, implementing the document includes public’s participation. The study also tries to find out what portion of the projects incorporated in the development programs have been implemented since its approval for the sample of communities examined. The study has found out that in many cases four-year development programs fail to incorporate some of the most pressing needs of the community that are within the competency of local government, people randomly participate in the design, preparation and realization of the projects and often times the projects remain on paper. Based on the findings and analysis, the paper ends with conclusion and a number of recommendations aimed at improving the drawbacks of community development programs.