scholarly journals Public Administration Reform in Czechia after 2000 – Ambitious Strategies and Modest Results ?

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Špaček
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Evaluation System ◽  
Administrative Reform ◽  
External Support ◽  
Secondary Literature ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Public Administration Reform ◽  
European Public ◽  
Service Legislation ◽  
Desk Research

Abstract The chapter summarizes and discusses the main topics, developments and issues of Czech administrative reform, based on desk research, secondary literature on developments of administrative reform in the country and input obtained through mapping and analyzing ESF / ESIF support and interviews with employees of central bodies that are responsible for the coordination and evaluation of the use of ESF / ESIF support. It is based on findings prepared within the project European Public Administration Country Knowledge (EUPACK) that focused on researching dynamics of public administration in EU member states and the contribution of external support to improving public administration quality. The research indicates that partial results have been accomplished particularly in the following areas: openness and transparency, quality management implementation (by municipalities and regions) and e-government. Civil-service legislation has been consolidated rather recently, yet has changed various times, and this undermines every effort to evaluate its effects. A national PA evaluation system is being developed by the Ministry of the Interior but focuses (similarly to PA strategies and related operational programmes) on input indicators. This raises questions about possibilities to evaluate actual quality in PA and results of projects implemented within PA reforms.

Romanian public administration reform 2.0: using innovative foresight methodologies to engage stakeholders and the public

foresight ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marian Zulean ◽  
Liviu Andreescu ◽  
Radu Gheorghiu ◽  
Andra Maria Roescu ◽  
Adrian Curaj
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Late Phase ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Strategic Objectives ◽  
The Public ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Public Administration Reform ◽  
Phase Development ◽  
Building Process ◽  
Executive Agencies

Purpose The purpose of this practice-oriented paper is to look at a recent, late-phase development in public administration (PA) reform in Romania, specifically the drafting of the recently adopted national Strategy on Strengthening the Efficiency of Public Administration (2014-2020). In particular, the paper focuses on the opportunities and limits of outsourcing the building of the vision underlying the strategy and the prioritization of strategic objectives. The article’s story is also placed in the broader context of agencification literature and, more specifically, the involvement of executive agencies in policymaking. Design/methodology/approach The paper describes the vision-building exercise, developed according to a script already tested in several sectoral strategy-making processes, and the objectives and procedure of the online participatory consultation by using an adapted real-time Delphi format (similarly tested in the recent past). Findings The paper reports on the ways in which the output of the visioning process and of online consultations may be used to enhance a strategic process already underway. Originality/value PA reform in post-communist countries has been among the most hotly debated, intensely pursued, yet seemingly elusive policy objectives of the transition and post-transition periods. Among pre-accession and then European Union (EU) member states, the need to get in and then to get involved in European policymaking provided some impetus for such reforms and also set substantial constraints, without however always adding much predictability or significantly streamlining the public sector. The paper contributes to this debate by proving an innovative method of devising a reform strategy by outsourcing the strategy-building process to an agency with the necessary know-how and experience.

scholarly journals When a Market Runs a Hierarchy: Retrenchment of Bureaucratic Practices in Lithuanian Uniformed Services

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-24
Author(s):  
Svajūnė Ungurytė-Ragauskienė ◽  
Mantas Bileišis
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Practical Implication ◽  
Large Degree ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
New Governance ◽  
The Public ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Public Administration Reform

Some public administration literature that focuses on public administration reform indulges in constructing grand narrative theories such as New Public Management (NPM), or New Governance (NG). The most recent such theory that has been gaining attention over the past decade is the Neo Weberian State (NWS). The content of the theory with regard to its practical implication when it comes to reform is still unsettled. However, one key assumption behind the NWS is that reforms should be handled with care, as they may undermine the very institutions that have brought Western societies to the levels of their development they are in now. NPM’s drive to increase efficiency, and NG’s – democracy from the point of view of NWS is impossible if reforms deconstruct institutions that ensure the protection of the public interest and rule of law. NWS’s critique of post-communist reform efforts in the new eastern EU member-states is a case in point suggesting that leapfrogging the construction of a professional bureaucracy is ill-advised and does not lead to politically desired outcomes. In this paper we aim to evaluate which path of reform may lead to the best outcomes in a particular area of the public service – two non-military uniformed services of Lithuania – customs and penitentiary. These services have to a large degree avoided sweeping reforms throughout the independence period, in both cases – a soviet institutional legacy is also a factor. Both Customs and the Penitentiary service are suffering from multiple corruption scandals and very low public trust levels. These services are continuously in the crosshairs of reform, but few have been clearly articulated, even less so – implemented. Applying NPM to uniformed services, due to the nature of their functions was complicated, so as reforms in the 1990s and 2000s went along in the other sectors, policy-makers have largely left uniformed to their own devices, and this has led to retrenchment of the bureaucratic principles as would historical institutionalisms theory predict. We suggest that NPM-oriented governance avoids intervention in areas where NPM principles are hard to apply, leaving such areas without proper attention to continue down undesirable development paths. When the deconstruction of a hierarchy appears impossible, higher order governance needs to remain modelled as hierarchy as well. NWS in this case does offer a management modernization agenda, which could keep state institutions in step with social, technological, and economic developments.

Public Administration (PA) Education in Italy

2022 ◽  
pp. 107-124
Author(s):  
Tanzer Celikturk
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Bologna Process ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Reform Process ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Administration Reform ◽  
European Public

PA education is closely related to the public administration understanding of the relevant country and the public administration reform process. In this context, the structure of the Italian public administration, its historical roots, traditions, and public administration reform processes are discussed in order to understand the PA education in Italy. Since Italy is from the Continental European school of public administration, its effects on public administration reforms and PA education in Europe have been examined. Factors such as the spread of the new public management approach and the Bologna process initiated by the European Union, the convergence process in PA education and its effects on Italy are discussed. It is aimed to shed light on the PA education studies in Turkey by considering the PA education in Italy, one of the important representatives of the Continental European public administration understanding, which constitutes the intellectual foundation of the Turkish administrative system.

Territorial policy-making and administrative reform in Turkey

2018 ◽  
pp. 87-104
Author(s):  
Can Umut Çiner
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Administrative Reform ◽  
Central Administration ◽  
Public Administration Reform ◽  
Policy Frameworks ◽  
Fundamental Transformation ◽  
Turkish State ◽  
Recent Policy

This chapter provides an explanation of public administration reform in Turkey, and an overview of points of discussion and recent policy trends in local administrations. The chapter will examine the fundamental transformation of the Turkish State alongside public policies that directly impact local administrations, such as consolidation, decentralization, metropolisation and regionalisation. Through this perspective Turkish public administration, recent policy frameworks and the structural transformation of institutions will be explained. The chapter will go on to examine how public policies are designed in local administrations and how public policies have transformed the central administration-local administration relations.

scholarly journals The Influence of Government Priorities on Public-Administration Reforms in Europe

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-40
Author(s):  
Vitalis Nakrošis
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Process Tracing ◽  
Potential Candidate ◽  
Causal Process ◽  
Reform Initiatives ◽  
Reform Implementation ◽  
Qualitative Approaches ◽  
Reform Strategies ◽  
Public Administration Reform ◽  
European Public

Abstract3 The article assesses how and the extent to which political or policy priorities of European governments condition reform processes and their results in times of crisis. This research is based on desk research and statistical analysis of the 2013 EUPAN survey data on public-administration reform initiatives in Europe. The article finds that the place of public-administration reforms on the governmental agenda partially explains the process of public-administration reforms, but it cannot account for the variation in the (perceived) reform results. Also, the results of this research confirm that EU-13 and (potential) candidate countries face more difficulties in reform implementation due to a combination of comprehensive reform strategies and weak administrative capacities. If the quantitative analysis was able to uncover some broad trends common to European public administrations, more qualitative approaches (causal process-tracing and case studies) are needed to capture specific contexts and changing processes in different European public administrations on which delivery progress is inevitably contingent. In order to explain why some windows of opportunities are seized while others are missed during the process of public-administration reforms, it is important to undertake process-tracing in within-case and between-case analysis and focus on causal configurations in the study of particular reform cases.

scholarly journals THE CURRENT STATE AND PROSPECTS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFORM AFTER 2014 YEAR

2020 ◽  
pp. 217-233
Author(s):  
Vainius Smalskys ◽  
Svitlana Khadzhyradieva ◽  
Sergii Slukhai
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Civil Servant ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Administration Reform ◽  
Public Servant ◽  
Service Legislation ◽  
The Ideal

As for the civil service in Ukraine, we can identify a number of innovations aimed at improving the performance and ensuring the quality of civil service, namely: separation of administrative and political positions; clarification of the legal status of a civil servant; separation of civil service from political activity; establishing an exhaustive list of persons who are not subjected to the civil service legislation; introduction of a new approach to the classification of civil servants’ positions; a competency-based approach to the selection of candidates for the civil service; defining legislatively common approaches to entry, performance and separation from civil service; improving professional skills and professional training of civil servants, their labor remuneration, bonus payments and encouragement, as well as disciplinary responsibility.  Reforming the civil service legislation has become the most important step towards the public administration reform. Constant changes and amendments to the newly adopted legislation signify about it imperfection. Nevertheless, it should be noted that legislators and reformers are moving in the right direction. The data analyzed in the article show that Ukraine has come a long way from the Soviet civil service legacy. However, it is still in the middle of the road: these achievements must be supported by continuous efforts to render them irreversible and significantly improve the efficiency of public administration. The analysis of the sources in the article shows that the ideal picture of a public servant should correspond to his real perception. In fact, the public perception of civil servants in Ukraine is quite negative, as people see a striking difference between the reality and the ideal mentioned above. It turned out that the public servant, according to public perception, lacked almost all the necessary features. This demonstrates the enormous problems with civil servants in Ukraine due to the mismatch between public perception and the ideal image of a public servant. Thus, statistics show that the majority of respondents (about 70 percent) said that a Ukrainian civil servant is poorly qualified, tends to avoid solving complex cases, impatiently violates the law, demonstrates low respect for customers, is not trustworthy, is biased and interested in his own interests (puts one's own interests ahead of the public), non-result oriented, etc. The article concludes that public service reform in Ukraine should be supported not only by political measures that enhance the professionalism of employees, but also include procedures for changing public attitudes towards them. The negative perception of civil servants can be closely linked to the civil service itself: Ukrainians perceive it as a corrupt and bureaucratic institution that breaks innovation, does not care about cost-effectiveness, and does not perceive positive change.

scholarly journals ‘Never-ending Story’: Public Accountability and Public Administration Reform in Queensland Since 1989

2011 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rae Wear
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Conflict Of Interest ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Administrative Reform ◽  
Executive Power ◽  
Public Accountability ◽  
Public Administration Reform ◽  
Before And After

Soon after Johannes Bjelke-Petersen became Premier of Queensland in 1968, companies in which he held shares were given six-year leases to explore for oil on the Great Barrier Reef. The following year, ministers in his government accepted parcels of Comalco shares. So did senior bureaucrats and the Premier's wife. Criticism at the time was muted because Labor politicians and some journalists had also taken shares (Whitton 1989, p. 19). Bjelke-Petersen was adamant that he had done nothing wrong — a feeling that presumably was shared by other beneficiaries of Comalco's largesse (Wear 2002, p. 93). Because it is inconceivable that a saga of such blatant conflict of interest would be played out in today's Queensland, there is a temptation to tell a simple ‘before and after Fitzgerald’ story of public accountability and administrative reform. Considered analysis suggests, however, that the reality is much more complex. There was progress, but there was also backsliding. Some reforms — such as those to the electoral system — were significant and enduring. Others — such as whistleblower and FOI legislation — were fairly quickly watered down. There was a lack of long-term interest in public administration, parliament retained its usual place on the margins of Queensland's political institutions and executive power remained relatively unconstrained. Cases of corruption continued to emerge.

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