Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 15th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview VII. Working Group on Capacity Building of Civil Servants... Author(s) Aleksandras Minkevicius Mykolas Romeris University Vilnius Lithuania Title Transformation of the civil servant training and qualification upgrade system and administrative competences of civil servants in Lithuanian state institutions File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Abstract Summary The purpose of this article is to portray the process of Lithuania’s civil servant training and qualification upgrade system formation in the period of time after the country’s independence was regained and also to depict possible future developments of this system in light of ongoing globalisation and European integration. Comparisons of opportunities available to different participants of the system are used throughout the article. Also, an attempt was made to define the main dimensions of the results of the system’s operation. Data on the values that dominate within Lithuania’s public institutions and their dynamics as well as facts about the administrative competencies of civil servants in state institutions are presented in the article. A summation and conclusions are also provided. 1. Introduction During the last decade of the previous century, the swirl of convergence sucked Lithuania as well as other countries of Central and Eastern Europe into the process of European and Transatlantic integration. Consequently, the small Baltic country has become a member of NATO and the European Union. Complicated and ambivalent transformational processes are going on in Lithuania. These processes determine the shape of society and the basis of social, political, economical, technological and cultural development of the country. Due to increasing globalization, Lithuania is transforming in the direction of a society which is open to the world. In the last few years, Lithuania’s political system has transformed into a political system of an independent state akin to the modern European states. Society has gained a wider understanding of humanistic and democratic values, public policy-making, its structure and the process of public administration. There are visible signs that citizens are increasingly involved in this process and that there is much understanding that such involvement amplifies the possibilities of solving their personal social, economic and cultural problems. The very understanding of public administration is changing. Public administration is now conceived by citizens as a public process which they can influence by means of public control and assessment of the activities of public institutions. The ongoing transfer of powers from central to regional authorities is also comprehended as an opportunity for citizens to participate in the decision-making process of administrative institutions. Basically, the legal basis has been laid, which should help to democratise the activities of public institutions, that is, to direct their activities to solving the problems that social groups, communities or their members face and that this ought to be done in compliance with the established rules and procedures and not simply voluntary inclinations. The above-mentioned transformations are taking place not only due to the external impact of global geopolitical changes that fundamentally changed the way Lithuania as a state is being governed. These transformations would not have been possible without serious adjustments in people’s consciousness and their embracement of the democratic spirit and political culture of the XXI century. These are very important factors influencing the transformations of the civil servant training and qualification upgrade system. The system, in turn, should actively frame this transformation of consciousness and try to ignite positive values in civil servants.
