Department of Government & Society, University of Limerick, Ireland

Transcription

1 DEVELOPING PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION EDUCATION IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EUROPEAN DIMENSION IN ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES? By Bernadette Connaughton * and Tony Verheijen ** Introduction Public Administration programmes in Central and Eastern European states are in rapid development. Numerous programmes have been created in the EU candidate states as well as in other East European and CIS states, in particular during the last three to four years. The general scepticism and suspicion of the state administration, mainly generated by its use as an instrument of control and even suppression by the previous regimes, has gradually been replaced by a genuine interest in public administration, both among academics and students. Other factors, such as the growing realisation of the importance of good (public) governance for the development of the economy, and the increasing importance attached by the EU of administrative capacity requirements for EU membership, have also contributed to the growing popularity of Public Administration as an academic discipline. The underlying inventory of Public Administration programmes in Central and East European states, carried out jointly by NISPAcee and EPAN under the Thematic Network Project on the Europeanisation of Public Administration programmes, comes one year after a similar inventory for EU and EEA states. That inventory 1 highlighted the divisions in academic traditions across states, the general lack of preparedness of academic programmes for the process of rapid Europeanisation of the real world of Public Administration, and the continued problems of relations between PA programmes and the profession in a majority of states covered under the inventory. The inventory of PA programmes in Central and East European * Department of Government & Society, University of Limerick, Ireland ** United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 1 Verheijen, Tony and Bernadette Connaughton (eds.) Higher Education Programmes in Public Administration: Ready for the Challenge of Europeanisation. Limerick : Centre for European Studies,

2 states provides an interesting contrasting picture, as will be illustrated by this comparative analysis. Civil Service education under the Communist regime and its legacy Under the Communist regime Public Administration did not exist as an academic discipline in its contemporary form. Public Administration was not taught at university level, though training and education courses in public law and management were organised at party academies that did have some elements of what usually constitues PA programmes. There was no civil service in the Western sense in Central and Eastern European states. Communist ideology and the immediate interests of the regime took precedence as opposed to merit principles, specialised training, administrative competence and high ethicial standards. The separation of policy development and administration left the civil service with a residual role in technical implementation. As a consequence, public administration during the Communist period only partly fulfilled its traditional functions in democratic political systems. Therefore the main form of civil service education during this period was party political training instructing bureaucrats how to comply with party policy and strictly implement party decisions. Senior bureaucrats received education in special academies or in Moscow. Open competition and competitive examinations were not part of the system. Therefore Public Administration generally did not have a presence in university institutions during this time. It should be noted though that in the 1980s there was a general move towards improvement of management practises in public administration, in particular through the development of special management training programmes for officials. However, this was not translated into the creation of new academic programmes. Despite the fact that politically impartial administration did exist in some CEE states in the period between the world wars, the nature and practice of state administration during the Communist regime has been both harmful in its impact and the root of many of the problems currently being encountered in the civil service. An ill equipped and poorly functioning administrative apparatus is among the main impediments to further progress in terms of economic reform, political stabilisation and meeting the criteria for European Union membership. One of the measures taken to address the legacies of the past has been the progressive adoption of civil service legislation. Civil service legislation 329

3 can play a key role in the elimination of unprofessional practices of recruitment and promotion on the basis of political patronage or cronyism, and contribute to the integrity of the system. Legislative measures are introduced to regulate rights to career advancement, merit principles, fair and proportionate salary provisions and clearly set out the rights and duties of civil servants. However, despite the adoption of a civil service law in a number of states, the prevailing pattern in Central and Eastern Europe is still one in which the top echelons of the civil service in many states change with each election. 2 The emergence of academic programmes in the 1990s The establishment of academic programmes in Public Administration has been ongoing since the early 1990s. The rationale for their establishment is quite clear to equip government ministries and agencies, local government and other public bodies with highly qualified specialists. The reestablishment of democracy and newly acquired independent status in CEE states has stimulated the pressure for administrative reform, accountability and transparency. A significant element of these reforms is the decentralisation of state power and administration and the increasing role of local governments. However, initially such processes were not accompanied by a receptive attitude to the recruitment of graduates from new academic programmes, such as Public Administration programmes. Traditionally public adminsitration institutions in Central and Eastern European states mainly recruited graduates of law departments. Only in recent years governments in Central and Eastern European have become more receptive to public adminstration graduates. There are a number of reasons for this change in attitude. A first reason for this is that the only way in which a rapid transformation can be achieved is by the recruitment to key positions of highly qualified young staff members. Whereas, in the initial years of the transition process there was in many states a strong resistance against such proposals, especially from senior officials, the many cases of reform failure and the realisation that a high quality administration is a key requirement for successful economic transformation, have brought about a gradual change in attitude. The gradual emergence of a new political class, even or especially in political 2 This is noted by Verheijen and Rabrenovic (1999) who illustrate the cases of Poland and Hungary which both had civil service laws in place but following the last elections large groups of civil servants were replaced for predominantly political reasons. 330

4 forces associated with the previous regime, has also created more favourable conditions for the recruitment of Public Administration graduates. Finally, the many private sector career opportunities open to law graduates have made administrative careers less attractive for this group of potential competitors to Public Administration graduates. The emergence of a a growing number of Public Administration programmes in recent years is a logical result of an increased demand for generalists in the administration as well as of the increasing familiarity of politicians with Public Administration as an academic discipline. In some states the government has been instrumental in the establishment of academic Public Administration programmes e.g. Ukraine and Czech Republic. The Ministry of Education in the Czech Republic played an important role in fostering PA education at university level. In the Ukraine, the Institute of Public Administration was established by decree following the 1991 referendum on independence and ensuing presidential election the following March. In other cases the government has been relatively passive or reactive vis à vis initiatives in university institutions. 3 In Bulgaria, the Ministry of Education only approved Public Administration as an academic discipline in March 1997, some three years after private institutions admitted students to PA programmes. In its effort to regulate PA education the government then set onerous state requirements. 4 In tandem with the establishment of new academic PA programmes, the research activities of universities in some states e.g. Estonia, Latvia are being incorporated into strategies for national administrative and legal reform. In this regard, the University of Tartu, Estonia acts as a strategic partner to the Estonian government in designing administrative reform in the country. This contrasts with the Bulgarian case where the expertise in drafting public administration legislation was provided to the government by STRATEGMA, a private consultancy institution. Another factor to be considered in the emergence of Public Administration as a subject and academic degree programme is the pluralisation of the 3 For example, though the government is relatively supportive in Estonia, Public Administration programmes were established and had admitted students in three public universities before the Ministry of Education included it in its list of approved subjects. 4 A number of compulsory subject with minimum contact hours for each, obligatory for all undergraduate MA programmes in the country. However, for Public Administration these are more stringent in comparison to the requirements for other disciplines i.e. 19 instead of some 10 subjects with over 1400 hours, or two full academic years. 331

5 education system as a result of independence. A number of new education institutions have been established 5 and universities have more freedom to decide on the structure of faculties and explore new fields of study. Studies in Public Administration are not only being developed at universities which had previously provided teaching in similar disciplines, but also at institutions primarily more oriented to technical disciplines e.g. Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania. However, this new found liberalism in relation to the establishment of new disciplines and faculties can result in poor coordination in the creation of Public Administration studies, as was noted by the Czech rapporteur. In Romania, the opposite case was experienced as the framework for the PA curriculum (predominantly legal) was initially centrally developed for the entire state by representatives of PA schools and the Ministry for Education. 6 The establishment of PA programmes in Central and Eastern European has also been influenced to a degree by the development of PA education and research in western countries. There is evidence of significant influence of foreign partners (in particular from the USA and to a much smaller degree from other parts of Europe) in the development of Public Administration curricula e.g. Bulgaria, Romania, Estonia, Slovenia, Latvia. One of the main examples of a PA programme developed as a result of co-operation between European universities is the MPA programme Sofia University (BG). This programme was established in 1998 as the result of a Tempus Phare project involving four West European universities. Models And Approaches To The Organisation Of Pa Programmes As a new and developing discipline in Central and Eastern Europe, the dominant approach to the delivery of independent PA programmes is described in the majority of national reports as interdisciplinary. 7 However, the institutional setting and organisation of PA programmes in CEE varies for a number of reasons. In some institutions the Public Administration school has emerged from political struggles and existing rivalry between faculties. 8 A lack of qualified teaching personnel is another issue to be 5 In Bulgaria the number of universities increased from 16 to 42. Most of the new institutions are private universities which rely on the expertise of academic staff from the old state universities. 6 The utility of this was later questioned. 7 Interdisciplinary academic programmes in PA are interpreted as programmes in which public administration is studied from the integrated viewpoints of different disciplines, generally those of Political Science, Law, Economics and Sociology. 332

6 taken into account in the development of PA programmes. It is difficult to change established programmes with current resources and a lack of qualified teachers in general subjects presents a difficulty in presenting a well balanced programme of sufficient standards and quality. The national reports on the Slovak and Czech Republics raise this issue in particular. Despite the early stage of development, one can find three broad categories of academic programmes; programmes comparable to the social science based programmes in Northern Europe, programmes based mostly on the basis of management sciences and programmes mainly based on legal subjects, akin to the legalistic composition of programmes in Southern Europe. In Hungary, graduates in Law are considered to be the most competent generalist professionals in public administration. Therefore the dominant institutional setting for PA programmes are Faculties of Law and the study of Administrative Law constitutes a major component of Public Administration curricula. In a number of states, discussions concerning accreditation and state requirements for PA programmes have centred on the question of whether academic programmes should have their basis in law or whether they should follow the interdisciplinary route more typical of Northern European systems. For example, the national report indicates that this is a central debate in Romania, where the structure and content of the curriculum has traditionally been influenced by law or law related courses. An increasing number of universities support a more interdisciplinary approach and resist the rationale for one, centralised programme in Romania. A meeting between university representatives and the Ministry of Education in May 1999 resulted in the acknowledgement that a revision of the current curriculum is necessary in order to adapt programmes to European norms and market and reform demands. Finally the relatively large number of PA programmes based mainly on management or economic subjects is interesting to note. In particular in Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia 9 there is a very strong representation of management and economics based programmes. Often the design of these programmes were strongly influenced by US or, in the case of Latvia, UK 8 Interdepartmental rivalry was a significant issue in the debate on the establishment of a new Department of PA at Sofia University. The department is now anchored within the Faculty of Philosophy. 9 But also in the Czech Republic and Poland, though law-based programmes still constitute the majority of the PA programmes. 333

7 universities and institutes. As a further illustration of the relative importance attached to economics and management, the accreditation debate in Bulgaria was dominated by the question whether or not Public Administration should be classified under economic disciplines. The following sub-section maps the type of programmes available in terms of the discipline on which they are based: Economics / Management based Legal tradition PA studies are taught in combination with a range of social science disciplines Economics/Management In Latvia, Slovakia and, to some degree, Bulgaria the dominant approach to the development and delivery of programmes is an economics/managerial approach. An orientation to a management/business studies approach is also evident in some institutions in Lithuania (Kaunas University of Technology) and Estonia (Tallinn Technical University and the Estonian Business School), where courses on general Bachelor and MPA programmes are more aligned to management and administrative theory. In Slovakia, interdisciplinary PA programmes (Bratislava, Banska Bystrica) are developed on the basis of economic and management studies. In new universities the lack of experienced faculty prohibits the inclusion of a higher proportion of specialised courses at this stage in the development of PA programmes. In Latvia, core courses in local government issues are taught from a management perspective. In Bulgaria, Public Administration programmes were initially developed at economics and business schools. The Bulgarian state requirements foster the interdisciplinary features of the PA curriculum which is dominated by a compulsory number of law and economics related courses, tending to crowd out governance aspects (exceptions are the programmes at Sofia University and the New Bulgarian University). The state requirements for PA coincide 75% with those for Business Administration with which it is inserted under the general heading of Economics in the state register of officially approved disciplines This contrasts with the case of Poland where Economics courses compose of only 5% of all courses offered in programmes. 334

8 Legal approach In the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and also to a strong degree Slovenia, law dominates the organisation of PA programmes. In these states the classic continental model comprising of legal studies is traditionally perceived as the disciplinary approach closest to the requirements of the civil service. In Hungary, the importance of the principles of the Rechtsstaat can be traced back to the latter part of the eighteenth century. In Poland, legal courses were the focus of programmes between the world wars and, as an academic discipline, Public Administration is viewed as being strongly aligned to Administrative Law. A legal education is, to a large degree, a requisite for access to civil service positions. The Hungarian case illustrates that civil servants with a Law or Economics degree are exempt from an otherwise obligatory examination, which must be passed before completing two years of service. Therefore law is viewed as the most feasible foundation of new programmes though a more interdisciplinary approach is being espoused by the academic community e.g. Romania. PA studies are taught in combination with a range of social science disciplines In Estonia, Ukraine, and to a certain degree also in Bulgaria and Lithuania, PA programmes have a stronger governance focus and strive towards greater integration of Public Administration studies and other disciplines. In these programmes there is an orientation towards professional practice from the viewpoint of the principal social science disciplines in order to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to undertake multiple roles and duties in the public service. In Estonia, interdisiplinary programmes have evolved from a social science and economics base. The programmes at the University of Tartu, Tallinn Technical University and Tallinn University of Educational Sciences all provide Public Administration as a major subject and, through cooperation with departments of Law, Economics, Political Science, offer different minor study options and a variety of elective courses in addition to the core PA curricula. In Lithuania, all PA academic programmes in higher education institutions are established on an interdisciplinary basis. At Vilnius University the dominant discipline in the MPA programme is Political Science. The Lithuanian report notes the early stage in development of PA programmes and indicates that the evaluation of alumni feedback and their experience in the labour market will determine the future orientation of programmes. The Ukrainian report comments on a definite trend from 335

9 programmes with a primary focus on general and administrative law towards the development of other disciplinary approaches and courses concerned specifically with issues of governance. Prospects for the Development of Europeanised PA Programmes in Cee Rationale for Europeanised programmes in CEE In Central and Eastern Europe the role of government and an effectively functionning public administration is now clearly recognised as playing a major role in guiding the transition movement and adaptation to a market economy and the rule of law. However, the capacity of the civil service to assist institutional and administrative reform is hindered by its lack of adequately experienced personnel and resources. Knowledge of European practices in public administration is clearly relevant to internal reform processes in CEE and the inventory indicates a trend in several states towards modernising the education system and slowly introducing courses comparing economic, legal and political systems of Western countries into the PA degree programmes of higher education institutions. In relation to accession, the link between European integration and public administration reform has become more prominent as member states must be capable of implementing EU policies and legislation. The European Commission, contrary to the previous enlargements of the union, has strongly emphasised the importance of administrative capacity in the candidate states to implement the acquis communautaire on schedule. The significance of orientation towards the European Union necessitates the provision of adequate education and training in the management of EU policies for national civil servants. The European dimension of PA programmes an overview of the current situation Prior to 1989 the existence of the Soviet Union ensured that the states east of the iron curtain would not become members of the evolving European Community. Since 1989 the development of PA programmes has stimulated a gradual reaction to the importance of the European dimension through the inclusion of a limited, though increasing, number of European and comparative courses in the curricula. It is, however, possible to draw distinctions between groups of CEE states on this issue. 336

10 In the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania the number of EU courses have increased with the involvement of these states in the European integration process. Public Administration, at graduate and postgraduate level, is also a popular field of study e.g. it is the third most popular field of study in Estonia. At the present time, two Estonian universities are in the process of institutionalising their EU programmes in order to offer them as a minority field of study for PA (and other) students. In Lithuania, the establishment of a Department of European Integration by the Faculty of Administration at Kaunas University of Technology in 1998 also depicts growing attention to the European dimension. The Department runs several courses which relate to Lithuania s preparation for accession and links between the Public Administration programme and a new Masters degree in European Integration have also been developed. As noted above interdisciplinary programmes in Poland, Hungary, Slovenia and Czech Republic are more legalistic in orientation but the prospects of accession have also resulted in increased demand for education and training in European matters within the scope of PA programmes. The Polish report, however, distinguished between the degree of Europeanisation in PA programmes in public and non-public higher education institutions, the latter offering more EU/comparative courses. A greater degree of flexibility in the orientation and adjustment of teaching programmes exists in non-public vis à vis public institutions and evidently the modernisation of the education system is also linked to the development of this dimension. Those candidate states lagging behind in regards acknowledging the study of European integration processes as a priority are Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia. In Romania, the tendency to introduce comparative courses in PA programmes has improved in comparison to the early 1990s, but is still not acknowledged as being of significant importance. A similar situation exists in Slovakia where the lack of attention to EU and comparative public administration is also explained by the lack of qualified personnel and capacity to initiate new courses. In Bulgaria, the recent inclusion of European integration modules may be largely attributed to the acknowledgement of European Studies in the state registrar of officially approved disciplines The first draft fo the MPA programme at the University of Sofia did not include a single course that could be considered as part of a European and comparative dimension. 12 For example, foundation courses in European Integration at Tallinn Technical and Tallinn University of Educational Sciences, Estonia are compulsory courses. A range of elective 337 courses are offered every two years.

11 The results of the inventory indicate that courses focusing exclusively on Europe are the exception rather than the rule. 12 PA degrees may have only been established in the 1990s but the proportion of EU/comparative courses as part of the core programme is still surprisingly low. In some states this dimension has been developed as a result of integrating European perspectives and comparative analysis as a methodological feature of a number of courses. However, while some European themes are included in core subjects, the majority of EU/comparative courses are offered on an elective basis e.g. Estonia, Slovakia, Poland. In line with the approach to the organisation of PA programmes the most typical EU related course in Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Hungary is generally oriented to European law. 13 At the University of Latvia optional courses in the Bachelors degree programme at the Faculty of Economics and Management are more steered to Economics and Management e.g. European economic integration. In several CEE states there are a number of courses which examine the EU as a politico-administrative system and investigate the issues associated with accession and specific states e.g. Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Ukraine. Initiatives of note include the establishment of a Department of European Integration at the Faculty of Administration in Kaunas Technological University, Lithuania which plans to prepare a range of EU related courses. The other Baltic states of Estonia (University of Tartu) and Latvia (University of Latvia) have participated in EuroFaculty which was introduced in all three Baltic states in This has resulted in the development of several new EU courses and contributes to training future faculty through the support of an interdisciplinary Masters programme. As a result of pre-accession activities more courses on the politics and governance of the EU will come on stream to prepare future specialists. One of the reasons why more EU courses have not been included in undergraduate degree programmes to date is that the focus has been to address practical and immediate issues in the national public administration. The national reports do not refer to comparative courses which analyse the issues and problems facing the region as a whole. 12 For example, foundation courses in European Integration at Tallinn Technical and Tallinn University of Educational Sciences, Estonia are compulsory courses. A range of elective courses are offered every two years. 13 Law of the European Union is listed in the Bulgarian state requirements for PA. The Law Faculty at Charles University, Czech Republic provides EUROPEUM courses in cooperation with the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University. 338

12 In academic departments there are numerous research projects on Public Administration which are often sponsored by the state and business sector or initiatives such as the EU PHARE programme. Research initiatives in comparative public administration are acknowledged to be an important source of information for administrative systems in transition. International models and alternatives are considered in order to make recommendations for the development of a satisfactory model for the national administrative system. The majority of research in this field is related to the problems and drawbacks associated with the reform of the state administration, civil service and local government e.g. introduction of New Public Management practices and harmonisation with EU standards. This would indicate that on the basis of current research activity there is some potential for the future development of comparative PA courses. Relations with the Profession In their analysis of West European Public Administration programmes, Toonen and Verheijen (1998) referred to relations with the Profession as the achilles heel of Public Administration programmes. This situation does not appear to be reflected in Central and Eastern European states, which seek to nurture a new, post-communist generation of administrators in the public service. Public Administration programmes are in demand to contribute to the development of highly qualified professionals who can effectively develop and implement policies in different spheres of public activity. In general, the national reports indicate a lack of official data available on the number of Public Administration graduates employed in central and local administration. Access to local administration is particularly difficult to track. In the majority of states Public Administration degree programmes were established in the mid 1990s and are only recently producing qualified graduates. It is difficult to make generalisations and the inventory results illustrate a variety of circumstances in different national settings. For example, attitudes range from one hundred percent employment for PA graduates in Estonia to comments from the Romanian rapporteur that graduates can be regarded with suspicion in public sector institutions due to the insufficient comprehension among civil servants of what constitutes higher education in Public Administration. In Hungary, public managers holding a degree other than of a legal character are viewed as specialists and in order to obtain a managerial position all graduates must pass an exam which is predominantly legal in composition. 339

13 A general overview of position of PA graduates in relation to access to the profession. In some countries beneficial links have been developed between departments offering PA programmes and the civil service. In Estonia, internships are a compulsory requirement of Public Administration programmes and a significant percentage of PA graduates (Tartu 68%, Tallinn Technical University 89%) do subsequently obtain employment in the public sector. In Slovenia, approximately 70% of graduates of the School of Public Administration at the University of Ljubljana tend to be employed in the public administration. In a number of cases rapporteurs refer to the small numbers of public officials with a PA degree. The Masters Programmes in PA established in Lithuania and Latvia, for example, are in much demand from the personnel of government institutions who now require specialist skills in public administration. However, the picture is less encouraging in Poland and Slovakia where Public Administration degree programmes do not appear to have very positively impacted on graduate employment in the public service. In both cases public service recruitment policy does not distinguish between degrees in Public Administration and those in other humanities, legal, economic and business studies. Neither does it cite any privileges in recruitment procedures at any level of public administration. 14 It may be anticipated that links between university programmes in PA and government institutions would improve following the implementation of comprehensive civil service laws in the region. At the current time the Labour Code is still valid for public service personnel in a number of CEE states, which is one of the main factors explaining high turnover and instability in the administration. 15 The lack of provision for appropriate legislation concerning recruitment, rights, responsibilities and status of civil servants militates against the likelihood of graduates signing up for career in public administration. 14 This may be the case in other CEE countries but is not necessarily an inhibiting factor for PA graduates to gain employment in the public service. 15 In some states special provisions in the Labour Code applying to civil servants were used in the past to further weaken the position of civil servants vis à vis politicians, such as for instance in Bulgaria, where the ability of civil servants to contest dismissal was reduced through special government decrees. Only the entry into force of the new civil service law (January 2000) has changed that situation. 340

14 Hence, a number of factors need to be considered when considering the development of public administration programmes and adequate conditions for public service careers. Poor incentives and perceived low prestige of public sector career It would appear that pursuit of a career in public service is more likely because of personal and professional commitment as opposed to a rational consideration. The civil service is not viewed as a lucrative career, salaries are lower than the private sector and career opportunities may be modest. PA graduates may be more likely to work in the private sector. In Estonia the lack of competition in the public sector is a principal reason for fast track careers, given there is currently a shortage of supply of highly qualified PA graduates to meet demand. Cronyism Many positions are still allocated on partisan grounds. The Bulgarian report notes that in many instances public administration positions are occupied by party supporters. Acceptance In Poland unemployment is perceived to be high amongst PA graduates. PA programmes have not impacted upon senior (graduate) vacancies in central and local administration where there tends to be a prejudice in favour of existing experienced public service employees who are deemed more effective as opposed to those educated in PA. The Ukrainian rapporteur reported that civil servants availing of PA education at the national academy can sometimes encounter hostile treatment from officials who served under the Communist regime. As a result graduates will attempt to secure positions in central government where reform initiatives are being implemented. Degree of government support to educate a new generation of civil servants Graduates of academies with direct links to or established by the government are likely to be accepted for civil service positions. The Ukrainian Academy of Public Administration is attached to the Presidential Administration and recruitment policy defined by the ministerial cabinet stipulates that graduates of the Academy be allocated to jobs in the civil 341

15 service without competition. 16 In addition, the necessity of admininstrative reform necessitated for EU accession may enlist the support of the government for PA education. The administrative reform programme currently being followed by the Bulgarian government includes the recruitment of young professionals as part of its strategy. It is anticipated that this will lead to opportunities for PA graduates in the near future. These situations contrast with the example cited in the Slovakian report whereby a distinguished graduate diploma programme in Public Administration taught at Academia Istropolitana Bratislava had to be cancelled due to lack of support from the central government. In-service training and staff development Overall it would appear that despite the increasing development of undergraduate and postgraduate academic programmes in Public Administration, university departments play a moderate/limited role in the provision of in service training. The organisation of in-service training in public organisations is decentralised to a large degree e.g. Estonia, Poland and Slovakia. In the Slovakian case this is the result of the current system of personnel management within the public sector. 17 Training centres and academies of PA, in particular the national academies, remain the dominant provider of in-service training and staff development for civil servants in central and local administration e.g. Hungary, Poland as well as in organising certified training courses and developing academic programmes for public officials. One exception is the School of Public Administration at Ljublana University, Slovenia which is involved in preparing public service employees for professional examinations. Another is the Department of Social Sciences at Charles University in the Czech Republic which organises a number of post diploma courses in areas such as environmental law, social policy and legislative techniques, which form an important dimension of training for civil service employees. As previously mentioned the influence of European issues is increasing and are gradually becoming an important component of in-service training courses. The European and comparative issues addressed are generally 16 Most graduates are obliged to go back to the government though they are expected to demonstrate better skills and make a good career. 17 There is no single Ministry responsible for personnel management issues in PA in Slovakia which is extremely decentralised. Cooperation between academic institutions and public bodies in relation to on the job training of public servants is not well developed. 342

16 instructed by foreign experts and activities within the framework of international programmes. In Hungary, the rapporteur noted that EU related training is a central component of civil service training and is supported by the cabinet. However, the states participating in the inventory remain countries in transition and, in the main, there are numerous areas and national / local circumstances which require more immediate attention and focus in relation to training. Conclusions Higher education programmes in Public Administration have demonstrated rapid development in Central and Eastern Europe during the last few years. The initial suspicion of citizens towards working for state institutions, resulting from the role of public administration as an instrument of suppression under the previous regime, has started to weaken. In new states in particular there is a gradual but increasing interest among graduates in working for the state. The adoption of civil service laws, which are stimulating a gradual improvement in public administration employment conditions, and the increasing receptiveness of Public Administration graduates by governments are further reasons for the increasing interest in Public Administration as an academic discipline. Public Administration programmes are also considered attractive due to their interdisciplinary nature, which provides them with an image of innovative programmes in academic communities which are generally characterised by a high degree of specialisation and compartmentalisation. Finally, the prospect of accession to the is also a factor in explaining the emerging interest in Public Administration as an academic discipline. The investment in professional administration is deemed a necessary criterion for membership and working the administration can also provide opportunities to contribute to this process. The rather rapid growth of academic programmes in recent years does create problems of limited available teaching staff. New programmes have stretched resources to the limit in areas where previously there was little expertise, with Slovenia as possibly the only exception. Building a core group of experts, through staff training and the rapid inclusion of young graduates in teaching staff, is a key task of universities if the new programmes created are to be sutainable. This is particularly necessary for countries like Bulgaria and Romania, where a significant number of new programmes have been created in recent years, often taught by the same small group 343

17 of travelling teaching staff. In the case of Slovakia problems internally militate against the development of PA programmes. Despite such obstacles it would appear that in general courses on the EU and comparative European public administration are slowly but systematically being introduced into PA programmes. The problem of developing the European Dimension in Public Administration education is to a certain degree linked to shortages in qualified staff as both European Integration and Public Administration are rather new fields of study. It is therefore unsurprising that the European dimension in Public Administration education is strongest in those universities which also have strong European studies departments, and where some cross-fertilisation is possible. In the context of the accession process and the subsequent growing demand for European civil servants, greater attention needs to be devoted to the development of the European dimension across all parameters of Public Administration programmes. As is the case in Western Europe, there is a high degree of diversity in programme types, truly interdisciplinary programmes, with a basis in the social sciences dominate in some states, while in other states law-based programmes still prevail. The only significant difference with the situation in Western Europe is the relatively large number of programmes with a strong basis in economics and management science. In part this is due to the strong role that American and, to a lesser degree, UK universities have played in supporting the development of PA programmes, in particular in the Baltic States. The development of links with the profession is a gradual process. Public Administration programmes are starting to obtain a niche in civil service recruitment as they gain credibility among professionals. There is limited data available on this issue, which makes it difficult to draw general conclusions. However, there is a trend towards increasing access for Public Administration graduates. This is valid especially for the new states, with the Baltic States as the main example. In more traditional systems of governance, like Hungary, the Czech Republic, but also in Romania, there is still a tendency towards recruiting lawyers. However, good candidates with law degrees are in short supply all over the region. Ironically, the general high demand for lawyers in the private sector appears to have been a contributing factor to opening the civil service for Public Administration graduates. 344

18 The research dimension of Public Administration is still under development in many of the Central and East European states. Associations such as NISPAcee have played a key role in stimulating the development of the research dimension, but it seems like it will take some time yet for a key cadre of researchers to emerge. The development of research in Public Administration is hindered further by the brain drain of young academics, in particular to US universities, which in turn is caused by low salaries, and often limited opportunities for academic careers on offer to young academics in their own states. The development of research and teaching capacities is therefore to a high degree linked to the improvement of economic conditions in Central and Eastern Europe. In conclusion, the rapid development of Public Administration programmes in Central and Eastern Europe over the last five years has created the basis for the enrichment of the European academic community in this area. Unfortunately the development of new programmes has often taken place in relative isolation from Western partners, which is at least partly due to the inward looking nature of PA programmes in many European states. 18 Closer cooperation between PA programmes could be highly beneficial for universities in both parts of Europe, as the new programmes in Central and Eastern Europe are still in need of support, while programmes in Western Europe could get some inspiration from the experience of Central and Eastern European states in building new, and sometimes innovative, Public Administration programmes. 18 Toonen, Theo and Tony Verheijen. Public Administration in Europe: in need of convergence and Europeanisation? In Verheijen, T & B. Connaughton (eds.) Higher Education Programmes in Public Administration: Ready for the Challenge of Europeanisation? Limerick : Centre for European Studies,