Abstract
The regions have a wide range of competencies and responsibilities, especially in social and health services, education, infrastructure development, environment protection etc. Their administration is concentrated in the Regional Authorities which, among many other things, provide specialist and methodological assistance to municipalities.
In this chapter, it is argued that regional policy bureaucrats are predominantly specialists involved mainly in communication with other administrative bodies, routine administrative acts and direct communication over-the-counter with citizens (at lower positions). However, besides these rather operational tasks, the bulk of policy bureaucrats are more or less involved in tactical and strategic tasks related to sectoral regional policies or overall development of the region.
The way policy work is done differs significantly from "Western" theoretical accounts and/or experience. We can hardly speak about either rational or post-modern styles of policy work in a situation where rigorous research and evaluation are practically missing on one side and participation of or interaction with stakeholders outside regional authorities are very limited on the other side.
Regional PBs are preoccupied with coordination of their activities within the bureau, negotiating with other bodies and implementation of adopted policies.