Public Administration Reform forms an important tier of public administration in each CEE country. A contemporary problem is the small amount of comparative and empirical research in the theme of PA Reform in the CEE countries.
The activity of this Working Group aims to provide a structured forum on the dynamics of public administration reform in the NISPAcee region, including New EU member countries, non EU countries, all post-communist countries including Western Balkan as well as Caucasus countries and Central Asia. Public Administrative Reform is described as any restructuring of the administrative part of the public sector in order to solve organizational and/or societal problems associated with this structure and intended as promoting a professional, merit-based and neutral civil service.
The activities of the proposed Working Group provide an opportunity for academics and practitioners to meet, reflect upon, and discuss their experiences in a structured fashion.
The ongoing and radical transformation of the public administration in Central European countries raises a series of interesting theoretical questions, questions that have a serious practical relevance. Democratization theory and the focus on the political institutions represented the first framework of analysis for the changes that took place in CEE. The EU accession negotiations opened the territory for a second, technocratic defined agenda of directed change. The transformation in many of the Central European countries seems to have been successful. Eight Central European states did become EU members in 2004, and two other states in the region following step in 2007.
The trajectories of change that the Balkans and Central Asian Countries followed after 1989 were characterized by different sets of confrontations. For the Balkans, the 90’s brought not only challenges associated with state formation and wars. The reconstruction, first addressed within the political reform and accession to the EU, was framed as a goal, but the political evolutions (with the exception of Slovenia) hindered the administrative transformation. Central Asian Countries pursued the path of transformation slower, and without the prospect of EU accession. The impact of international organizations was more diverse than in the CEE, encompassing both Western European and North American influences. These different paths give a unique opportunity to investigate the differences in process and outcomes of PA reform that starts because of internal pressures (demand based) and that starts on the basis of external incentives (supply based).
These developments result in a number of theoretical and empirical questions. For instance, was the Public Administrative Reform mainly administrative in character or was it also intended to serve the public side of public administration? Were (re)developing of the civic spirit and civil involvement related, and if so, according to what mechanisms, to the maturing of the internal demand to reform public sector institutions? Was PA Reform mainly internally or externally based? Had citizens and civil society organizations something to say in promoting and requesting reform in the field of public administration, and if, so, what was it and how was that accomplished? Which factors influenced the success of domestic demands to reforms PA institutions?
The questions addressed in this working group are:
- What explains successful Public Administration Reform (in post-socialist countries)?
- What are the factors that lead to the effectiveness of reform in Public Administration in post- socialist countries?
- What relationships can be identified between the actors that assist in the development and functioning of the reform?
- What effects are visible because of Public Administration Reform? Does it, for instance, lead to the development of democratic governance in post-socialist countries? If so, what mechanisms are in place and how do they function in order to achieve this goal?
- What can be learned from past experiences and how can processes of Public Administration Reform be improved in order to become more effective and efficient?
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Papers:
Paper: Decentralization of structural assistance implementation system and its influence on member state obligations concerning the use of structural aid. Case of Estonia
Author(s):
Hindrek Lootus, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia
Helio Huik, Institute of Political Science and Governance, Tallinn University, Estonia
Presenter(s):
Paper: Traditions of Public Administration in Lithuania and New Public Management in Reforms of the Education System
Author(s):
Jolanta Urbanovic, Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania
Presenter(s):
Paper: “Mindset reprogramming” in the process of Serbian local government reform: Systemic solutions that bring changes
Author(s):
Mirjana Stankovic, Development Consulting Group, Belgrade, Serbia
Bora Obradovic, Robert Sundberg
Presenter(s):
Paper: Aspects of reforming public administration in Albania
Author(s):
Blerta Selenica, Council of Ministers of Albania, Tirana, Albania
Presenter(s):
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