An overview of public affairs masters programmes

Transcription

1 An overview of public affairs masters programmes Nancy Favre and Pierre Kilchenmann IDHEAP Swiss Graduate School in Public Administration CH Chavannes-Lausanne, Switzerland {Nancy.Favre, Introduction Since the end of the Second World War, a large number of programmes specific to public affairs have been proposed by various types of institutions worldwide. These programmes are evolving constantly and, therefore, it is difficult to have a total overview of what is offered. Using the categories of Jann 1, we distinguish, for example, programmes in public administration, public policy, public management and public governance. Theses programmes are proposed full-time as well as parttime, may or may not require professional experience, etc. In 2006, the Institute for Research and Debate on Governance (IRG) decided to launch a study in order to identify and to compare these various programmes within public affairs on a worldwide basis. The IRG is a forum for international and intercultural debate on governance. Its objectives are to stimulate the exchange between researchers, academics, journalists, professionals of public administrations, international organisations, civil society, etc. Pilot studies were launched in Latin America, China, and Europe as well as in the United States and are carried out by various research teams. To facilitate data gathering on the same platform and to allow consultation of these data, an Internet site was created. Through this website, the second aim of the project will be achieved in a later phase, which is to make accessible to the public the entire catalogue, similar to the database offered by the NASPAA (National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration) 2 in the United States. Our project, however, has a broader geographical range and the ambition to build bridges over the cultural differences that exist between the various areas of the world by comparing their lessons within public affairs programmes. The purpose of this article is to present the object of the study launched by the IRG as well as the methodological choices that were retained in order to allow a comparison of these various programmes throughout the world. If the study strives to be informative by making the catalogue of data accessible to a wide public, an analytical work is also completed by the various study groups of each geographical area. This article presents the principal results of the first pilot study undertaken for Europe by the IDHEAP. The future steps of the project to gradually become an observatory of programmes in public affairs worldwide will close this paper. Objective The aim of the study is, initially, to recognise and compare the various programmes in public affairs, to understand the various designs of governance and to further the understanding of those who wish 1 http ://

2 to better adapt the systems of programmes to the realities of the contemporary world. The investigation is based on the assumption that the methods and the practices of programmes are revealing of their own perception and political cultures. The idea was thus to identify in various defined geographical areas the location of the programme, the programmes and the contents, the profiles of the teachers, the teaching methods, the mode of recruitment of the students, etc., in order to learn what is understood by public affairs. Our work should make it possible to determine the type of technical, administrative and even ideological culture that is represented by the current persons in charge of the public affairs programmes in the world. This aims to provide information to those who, in public administrations or the framework of university networks, seek to reform the systems of public affairs programme to better adapt them to the needs of our society. Subsequently, the objective of this study is to make accessible to the public the gathered information and to summarise, in the form of catalogue and thus creating gradually an observatory of public affairs programmes with a worldwide scope. Methodology In order to conclude this project, various pilot studies have been undertaken in parallel in Latin America, China, Europe and the United States by various research teams. To allow, as far as possible and in spite of the diversity of the situations, a comparison of these programmes, a common methodological framework was adopted. The same questionnaire (Appendix 1) was thus proposed to the various persons in charge of research teams, making it possible to complete fact sheets of each programme. The questionnaire contains the following headings: Description of the programme, Key partners, Content and curriculum, Student profiles, Professional perspectives, Programme financing, Data soruce. These categories are detailed, each one containing descriptive information. They also contain free spaces for comments, allowing for the inclusion of more qualitative information. These fact sheets are filled out on the basis of information collected by the means of Internet websites of the various public affairs programmes, as well as their information booklets. Afterwards, each fact sheet is supplemented by interviews carried out with the persons in charge of the programme. Since the aim of these pilot studies is not to be exhaustive but rather to seek and compare the tendencies that could exist in the various countries, the number of case studies per geographical area was fixed to twenty. In order to have a representative panel, a selection of the programmes was established on the basis of various criteria. The programme fact sheets are then introduced in the central database and the catalogue is accessible to the public. The work of identification of the programmes, carried out by the various research teams of each geographical area, makes it possible to take into account the different national contexts. It also allows a comparative analysis. In order to facilitate the data acquisition of the various research teams, an Internet site EFAP 3 was created. It uses the mediawiki 4 technology, which allows the various teams to be able to work on the

3 same platform and update their data continuously. It makes it possible to meet the second aim of the project which is to make accessible to the public the catalogue of public affairs programmes, similar to NASPAA 5 for the United States. Results During the first stage of the pilot study undertaken in Europe, the programmes in public affairs of five countries were examined: Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Switzerland. The observation of these twenty programmes (Appendix 2) enables us to highlight certain tendencies and to confirm the lessons drawn from various studies. Connaughton & Randma (2002) 6 and Hanjal (2003) 7 demonstrated that there is no single European model of programme in public affairs. The programmes grow based on the designs of the states and the different national traditions, which are found in the programmes organisation. The following partial results present some characteristics of the programmes in public affairs (cf Annexe 3), knowing that the size of our sample enables us for the moment only to assume tendencies which will be examined in the continuation of the study. Title of the programme We mentioned before that four types of programmes are distinguished based on their title: programmes in public administration, public policy, public management and public governance. Among the programmes studied, we observed eight programmes in public administration (generally, one can say that they are the oldest programmes), three programmes in public policy, four programmes in public management and one programme in public governance. The titles of the other programmes mix various types: public management and governance, governance and administration, public policy and management. Figure 1 presents this evolution of the titles by creation year. No distinction based on the title of the programmes can be made according to the countries. Year of foundation - Program Category Number of program(s) Year Governance Hybrid Public administration Public management Public policy Figure 1: Evolution of the programme categories sorted by year of foundation Nature of the institution There exists in Europe a varied offer of special programmes concerning the public sector. According to the national traditions, we can observe that the various programmes in public affairs are proposed Connaughton, Bernadette & Randma, Tina (2002) 7 Hajnal, Györg (2003) 3

4 by different institutions, either universities or autonomous schools, e.g., the University of Administrative Sciences of Speyer in Germany, the ENA in France and the IDHEAP in Switzerland. The programmes offered by these autonomous schools are older than those offered by the universities except in the United Kingdom, which confirms the remarks of Jann 8, who states that since the 1960s, programmes in public administration have been proposed by British universities whereas the offer of universities in continental Europe is much more recent. The creation dates of the studied programmes vary between 1982 and Excluding the new programmes at the ENA, we can observe that the programmes offered by the autonomous schools are older and that the offer is largely politically and financially supported in Europe due particularly to the university reform (Figure 2). We do not have further information on the lifespan of these programmes and their possible disappearance and/or replacement. Year of foundation - Nature of institution Number of program(s) Year University Autonomous School Autonomous School / University Figure 2: Evolution of the nature of institutions sorted by year of foundation According to national traditions, the programmes studied also depend on various faculties or institutes such as the faculty of jurisprudence in Italy, the institute of political studies in France and the faculties of economics, political science and law in Switzerland. The contents of the programmes with emphasis on law, political science, economics or management vary according to faculties they belong to. Languages Beyond the national differences, the language of programme is often English. Among the twenty programmes studied, ten are given in English and a large majority of the programmes specify that basic English skills are necessary since certain courses are given in English. This phenomenon is found in the four non English speaking countries. Some programmes are proposed in two principal languages (French and German, English and Italian or German and English). Type of programme Among the programmes selected, we have programmes of the type graduate (full-time) and executive (in employment), according to the categories of the EAPAA (European Association for Public Administration Accreditation). An additional distinction is made in the graduate programmes, between those that require students to have professional experience for a certain number of years, 8 4

5 which are addressed to people having an employment ( mid-career programme ), and those that do not require any professional experience, which are addressed to academic student. On this point, it is difficult to detect differences according to the countries. Nevertheless, the Anglo-Saxon programmes are programmes proposed full-time or part-time while requiring professional experience whereas the German programmes are full-time and do not require professional experience. Country - Type of program Number of program(s) CH D F GB I Country Executive Graduate Graduate / Executive Figure 3: Types of programmes sorted by countries Organisation Concerning the organisation of the teaching, differences also appeared, that are not explainable by national criteria. For example, the minimum duration in equivalent full time of the twenty programmes studied, varies between nine and twenty-four months, without distinction according to the countries. The differences come rather from the type of programme. The programmes given by universities for academic student without professional experiences and without training are longer than those given for people in employment. Duration of program - Type of program Number of program(s) Years Executive Graduate Graduate / Executive Figure 4: Types of programmes sorted by programme duration For the same duration of programme, the number of hours of teaching also varies. It remains to be seen if the definition of the number of hours of teaching is the same everywhere, which is not easily verifiable. The duration of programme also varies according to the existence and duration of 5

6 internships in the programme. The proportion of teaching and internships within the course varies between the programmes, since some do not propose any internship, whereas others include internships that are up to fifty percent of the programme. It is the case of the master in analysis of public policies of Turin (MAPP), which proposes six months of internship in a one year programme. The in employment programmes do not propose internships, whereas the majority of the full-time programmes do. Profile of the students The questions related to the profile of the students enabled us to identify that the average age of students strongly varies (from 23 to 42 years) according to the type of programme. The average age of students following a in employment programme or a full-time programme requiring professional experience ( mid-career ) is higher than the age of students following graduate -type programmes. The number of students per graduating class varies between 20 and 50 students. Certain programmes have a precise annual quota limiting access, whereas other programmes quotas are more flexible. The number of students and especially of foreign students strongly varies between the programmes. No distinction according to the countries can be made. Cost We also noted that the costs of the programmes vary enormously. According to the type of programme, the graduate ones require paying only university taxes, except in Great Britain where an initial programmes fee is charged. The programme fees vary between 3'800 and 42'700 euros. Even if great disparities exist inside each country, we can conclude that the average costs of the British programmes are the highest (Figure 5). Country - Cost of program Number of program(s) 30' ' ' ' ' ' CH D F GB I Country Average cost of program in Figure 5: Average cost of a programme sorted by country Conclusion The methodological choices retained for the pilot studies made it possible to select in the various geographical areas a selection representing various programmes within public affairs. The comparative analysis of these best practices made it possible in Europe to confirm the results of a quantitative research project. Knowing that there does not exist a single European model of public affairs programmes but that they are based on the designs of the State and different national traditions, this paper explains which characteristics of the programmes vary according to this national 6

7 factor. This pilot study for Europe must be supplemented by the analysis of new countries. It must also be compared with the other pilot studies (Latin America, China, Europe, the United States) which are being established. This first phase makes it possible to identify the tendencies that exist between the programme types in public affairs in these various countries. The programme fact sheets of the programmes studied are entered into an Internet website that functions like a database. Search criteria make it possible to classify programmes and to present them according to the wishes of the user. The programmes are thus classified and can be sought according to the type ( graduate or executive ), the language and the country. Following this first phase, the objective is to open the platform, which is currently restricted to the research teams, to allow the enrolment of other programmes in a spontaneous way. Opening the website to the public makes it possible to achieve the second aim of the study and to place at the disposal of the public a worldwide catalogue of programmes in public affairs. This catalogue is intended for professionals in public administration and persons in charge of programmes, but also to the students who will be offered comparable criteria on the various programmes. The objective is to allow them to insert programmes or feedback relating to their programmes and to maintain the catalogue up-to-date. Each programme description is inserted in the database in the form of a fact sheet, following the example of articles in the on-line encyclopedia Wikipedia. This opening will make it possible to supplement the catalogue in a consequent way, which will gradually become an observatory of the programmes in public affairs throughout the world. The final dataset will make it possible to have a global overview of the offer of programmes and to carry out a comparative analysis of the various countries and continents. 7

8 Bibliography Books / Articles Connaughton, Bernadette & Randma, Tina (2002) «Teaching Ideas and Principles of Public Administration : Is it possible to achieve a common European perspective?», EPAN fifth Annual Conference, Granada, Spain, June Hajnal, Györg (2003), «Diversity and convergence : a quantitative analysis of European administration education programmes», Journal of Public Affairs Education, volume 9, N 4, pp Lazareviciute, Ieva (2001), Inventory of European states public service professional training systems and key institutions, European Thematic Network in Public Administration. Lewanski, Rodolfo (2000), «Teaching public administration in Italy», Public Administration, Vol. 78, No. 2, pp Martinez, Carlos Conde (2001), Career guidance services and work placement programmes in partners institutions, European Thematic Network in Public Administration. Rudzki, Rafal (2006), Towards European Administrative Space?, Research report, Erasmus University Rotterdam. Toonen, Theo and Verheijen, Tony. (1999), «Public Administration Education in Europe : In Need of Convergence and Europeanisation?,», In Verheijen Tony and Connaughton, Bernadette, (Eds.), Higher Education Programmes in Public Administration : Ready for Challenges of Europeanisation?, Limerick : Centre for European Studies. Verheijen, Tony and Connaughton, Bernadette, (1999), Higher Education Programmes in Public Administration : Ready for Challenges of Europeanisation?, Limerick : Centre for European Studies. Verheijen, Tony and Connaughton, Bernadette, (2003), «Public Administration Education and Europeanisation : Prospects for the Emancipation of a Discipline?» Public Administration, Vol. 81 No. 4 ( ), Oxford : Blackwell Publishing. 8

9 Internet websites Programmes websites

10 Appendix Annexe 1 : Questionnaire 10

11 11

12 Appendix 2 : List of studied programmes Germany : Master of Public Policy de la Hertie School of Governance à Berlin (MPP Berlin), Master in Public Management & Governance de l Université Zeppelin à Friedrichshafen (PMG Friedrichshafen), European Masters of Public Administration de l'ecole supérieure des Sciences administratives à Speyer (EMPA Speyer), Master européen de gouvernance et d'administration, de l Université de Potsdam en lien avec l Ecole Nationale d Administration à Paris (MEGA Potsdam / Paris). France : Master professionnel en Gestion publique, de l Ecole nationale d administration à Strasbourg en collaboration avec l Université de Paris Dauphine (MGP Strasbourg / Paris Dauphine), Master of public affairs, de l Institut d'études politiques (Sciences Po) à Paris (MPA Paris), Master en Management des administrations publiques, de l Université de Nice (MAMAP Nice). Great Britain : MPA Public and Economic Policy / Public Policy and Management, de la London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) (MPA Londres), Warwick MPA, de l Université de Warwick en lien avec la National School of Government à Londres (Warwick MPA), Public service MBA, de l Université de Birmingham (MBA Birmingham), Masters in Public Administration, de l Université de Liverpool (MPA Liverpool). Italy : Master of science in economics : economics, institutions and public policies, de l Université catholique du sacré Coeur à Milan, en lien avec l Université de la Suisse italienne à Lugano (MEIP Lugano / Milan), Master of Public Management, de l Université Luigi Bocconi à Milan (MPM Milan), Master in analisi delle politiche pubbliche, du COREP un consortium mené notamment par l Université de Turin (MAPP Turin), M.P.A. Public Affairs, Lobbying e Relazioni Istituzionali, de l Université LUMSA à Rome (MPA Rome). Switzerland : Master en administration publique, de l Institut de hautes études en administration publique (IDHEAP, fondation) à Lausanne (MPA Lausanne), Master en politique et management publics, d un groupe d universités publiques suisses conduit par l IDHEAP à Lausanne (PMP Lausanne / Berne), Master International Affairs and Governance, de l Université publique de Saint-Gall (MIA St- Gall), Executive Master of Public Administration, de l Université publique de Berne (MPA Berne), Maîtrise en management public, de l Université publique de Genève (MAP Genève). 12

13 Appendix 3: Principal characteristics of the programmes 13