You may contact the Romanian Academic Society (SAR) for partnership proposals in the following areas of expertise

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFORM
SAR is currently assisting the World Bank in implementing the Programmatic Adjustment Loan (PAL) program in Romania.

Thematic assessments were produced on: civil service reform, political interference in administration and justice, local government reform and regional development.

GOVERNANCE
SAR advanced solutions for increasing the quality of governance in Romania, by establishing governmental policy units, introducing performance management and rationalizing the public sector.

FOREIGN AID ASSESSMENT
SAR participated in evaluating the programs of the British Department for International Development (DFID) and the Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry in Romania.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND FISCAL REFORM
SAR`s economic unit monitors macroeconomic trends and carries out policy impact assessments. We are currently conducting research on intergovernmental fiscal transfers, local taxation, and promote fiscal reform by advocating in favor of a flat tax on personal income.

TRANSPARENCY AND FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
SAR was member of the NGO coalition that promoted the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in Romania. In 2002 SAR surveyed 500 public institutions and produced the first national evaluation of the implementation of FOIA.

CORRUPTION
SAR is the Romanian partner of the Norwegian Council of Research for the project Conditionality, Corruption and Informal Institutions: An analysis of Corruption in the Spheres of Public Procurement, Party Funding, Lobbying and the Judiciary in the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania. Using social network analysis SAR will focus on the corrupt networks in Romania.

POLITICAL SURVEYS
In partnership with the Center for Urban and Regional Sociology (CURS), SAR conducts regular public opinion surveys. All surveys are designed and analyzed by Alina Mungiu Pippidi, Executive President of SAR.

Between the two election rounds in 2000, SAR carried out the first panel survey in Romania to analyze the effect of the elections campaign on the voting behavior of the public.

MEDIA
Through its policy reports, SAR supports the freedom of speech and publication in Romania. We monitor on a regular basis the amounts of funds allocated for publicity by public institutions and state owned companies – a practice that can indirectly influence the independence of the media.

In 2000, SAR conducted the research Values in the Media. This content analysis method allowed us to examine views expressed in media editorials for six months in the five main dailies of the following countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, CSI (Russia, Ukraine), France and Germany. The project was undertaken in cooperation with the Central European University (CEU), Budapest and it was supported by the Media Network Program of the Open Society Institute, Budapest.

SPONSORS AND CLIENTS OF SAR: The German Marshall Fund of the US, Freedom House, World Bank, European Union’s Fifth and Sixth Framework Programs, NATO, Open Society Institute, Norwegian Council of Research, USAID-Grasp.