Romanian public management reform: theoretical and empirical studies: vol. 1, administration and public services

Abstract

For the time being, public management reform represents the concern of most states, no matter their development level, geographical and strategic position, membership to various supranational structures or political and social organisation systems. This process represents the topic of several papers and publications of outstanding international scientists or specialized structures of international organizations, such as OECD. In the EU Member States or acceding states, an argument for public management reform consists also in the need to bring into line with the national and regional administrations and even European administration. In the reform process, the most visible actors are the public authorities and institutions as well as the academic environment, which at national, regional or European level has structured own levers and mechanisms for debate and action concerning the reform mentioned. In line with the above efforts, it is worth to mention the activity of the European Group for Public Administration (EGPA), the Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe (NISPAcee), International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS), European Public Law Organization (EPLO), European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) etc. In this respect, I have oriented my own preoccupations of analysis and research, expressed in theoretical and empirical studies, accepted with interest in prestigious regional, European or Trans-Atlantic scientific events. In the actual context of developing administrative sciences in Romania, I consider that a synthesis of the main themes and outcomes is useful. They benefited of national and international recognition, being accepted at specialised events, being published or quoted. The contents of the current volumes focus on two important fields of research in administrative sciences: fundamental issues and developments of public administration and services, on one hand, and civil service, on the other hand. Within this broad topic, several chapters aim and present relevant, conceptual and empirical issues of the fundamental processes in national and European administration, i.e. decentralisation, setting up and asserting the European Administrative Space or regional cooperation. Romanian experiments and practices for representing the local interests in the governmental decision-making process, partnership and local governance or universal services are in line with the European trends for developing the public services. In fact, Europeanization of national public administrations represents the outcome and the engine of changes in Romanian public management in the context of the European integration. The first volume concludes with a broad comparative study concerning Romanian and Japanese public management. Result of a “Foreign Visiting Professor†programme at the National Institute of Multimedia Education, Japan, the study reveals the core values deriving from the culture and social organisation of two peoples with distinct history and development, that unify and separate the national public administration systems. The conclusions of the first volume are formulated in most studies. They are shaping Romanian public administration as a developing system, open and convergent towards the European values characterising the whole European integration process. The second volume focuses on civil servants’ career and training. The Europeanization process, the curricular harmonization of the content and organisation of higher education in the area of administrative sciences are analysed in view of the principles of European Higher Education Area. Basically, the studies describe a new for researching and method evaluating the contents of the Bachelor and Master programmes according to a set of principles, promoted by the European bodies, such as the European Association for Public Administration Accreditation (EAPAA). The studies represent an extension towards the pillars of a European dialogue concerning in-service training and the impact of new technologies in public organisations. Important experiences in management and training of Romanian civil service are approached in the context of promoting meritocratic criteria or developing the democratic mechanism, supporting the Romanian public management reform. Of course, only reading these lines, a concrete and detailed idea about the current paper could not be formulated. For those interested, it will be a major effort to cover all the topics presented. Every topic is subject to appreciations and critics, representing the pillar of new developments. In fact, it represents one of the aims for my approach. The other aims are focused on re-launching the professional and scientific dialogue in specialised academia on the coordinates of research in the field of public management, accepted at European level, ensuring an enhanced internal, national and European visibility for the contributions of the Romanian public management school.