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Romania Local Government
Local government bodies, known as people's councils,
existed on
the judet, town, and commune level. The 1965
Constitution
had also provided for subunits of state administration on
regional
and district levels, but a territorial-administrative
reorganization voted by the GNA in 1968 replaced the 16
regions and
150 intermediate districts with a system of 39
judete and
44 independent municipal administrations. Judet
lines in
the southeastern part of the country were subsequently
redrawn,
creating a fortieth judet; the municipality of
Bucharest,
which had judet status; and a surrounding
agricultural
district.
In addition to the establishment of judet and
municipal
people's councils, local councils were also set up in 142
smaller
towns, and communal councils were formed in rural areas. A
number
of smaller communes were combined in order to give them a
larger
population base. Boundaries of each judet were
drawn to
include about fifty communes consisting of 4,000 to 5,000
persons
each.
Along with the territorial reorganization, the decision
was
also made to combine party and government functions on the
judet level so that the same person acted both as
party
committee first secretary and as people's council
chairman. In
explaining this fusion of party and state authority,
Ceausescu
stated that there were many instances in which offices in
both the
party and the government dealt with the same area of
interest, a
practice that resulted in inefficiency and unnecessary
duplication
of party and state machinery. Despite fusion of party and
government functions, however, the bureaucratic structure
on all
government levels continued to expand.
According to the Constitution and the 1968 Law on the
Organization and Operation of People's Councils, the
people's
councils were responsible for the implementation of
central
government decisions and for the economic, social, and
cultural
administration of their particular jurisdictions. Deputies
to the
people's councils were elected for five-year terms, except
for the
communes and municipal towns, where the term was
two-and-one-half
years.
Organized to facilitate highly centralized control, the
people's councils functioned under the general supervision
of the
GNA or, between assembly sessions, under the direction of
the State
Council. The Law on the Organization and Operation of
People's
Councils specifically placed the people's councils under
the
overall guidance of the PCR.
Each people's council had an executive committee as its
chief
administrative organ and a number of permanent committees
with
specific responsibilities. The executive committee,
consisting of
a chairman, two or more deputy chairmen, and an
unspecified number
of other members, functioned for the duration of the
council's term
of office. Each executive committee also had a secretary,
who was
appointed with the approval of the next-higher-ranking
council and
was considered an employee of the central government. The
chairman
of an executive committee in a city, town, or commune
served as the
mayor of that unit. The executive committee was
responsible to the
people's council that elected it and to the executive
committee of
the next higher council.
The executive committee implemented laws, decrees, and
decisions of the central government; carried out decisions
made by
the people's council; worked out the local budget; and
drafted the
local economic plan. It was also charged with directing
and
controlling the economic enterprises within its area of
jurisdiction and with supervising the executive committees
of
inferior councils. The executive committee was also
responsible for
the organization and functioning of public services,
educational
institutions, medical programs, and the militia.
Data as of July 1989
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