Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 21st NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview PA Reform Author(s) Tomas Jacko University of Economics of Bratislava Bratislava Slovakia Malíková Ludmila, Title A chance to restart public administration reform in Slovakia File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Tomas Jacko Abstract The paper discusses the evolution of the system of public administration in Slovakia since 1989 with a focus on decentralisation and regionalisation, and also includes a discussion of the very recent and radical public administration reform plans which were formulated by the current government. Authors examine the reform of public administration in terms of its stages, specifics, challenges and known outcomes. The paper shows which legislative and administrative tools have been implemented and how they affected the current state of public administration. However, the paper does not merely provide a narrative of the Slovak public administration reform process. The paper also analyses the no longer existent Civil Service Office and the frequently amended Civil Service Act. These two case studies not only show Slovak peculiarities but also best illustrate the once strong influence of the EU on public administration reform and its progress in Slovakia. One of the reoccurring and overarching themes in Slovakia’s public administration reform but also in other CEE countries, and one which will also be subject to examination is politico-administrative relations and their consequences on the reform. The paper explains why and how politics and other factors have influenced the transitional history and (lack of) progress and in some sense regress of public administration reform. Finally, the paper offers lessons learned and recommendations, including the urgent need to depoliticise public administration and public sector as a whole in Slovakia. It is argued that public administration reform has to continue but ought to include not only formal restructuring but also further local and regional self-government development. The authors conducted primary and secondary research which draws from quantitative and qualitative data.
