Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 29th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview Open Session Author(s) Eka Akobia Caucasus University Tbilisi Georgia Title Public Administration in Countries in ConflictThe Case of Georgia File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Eka Akobia Abstract The principle objective of the proposed paper is to review the Public Administration system of a country with conflict (single case study - Georgia) and see whether and or how the conflict influences the quality of Public Administration in the country and how and to what extent is this challenge dealt with by Georgia. The paper shows that, while Georgia enjoyed thousands of years of existence and statehood, the development of Georgia’s modern state has unfolded against the backdrop of the three waves of consecutive interventions by its bigger and dominating neighbor - Russia, during all three of its Imperial, Soviet and Federative forms, resulting in various forms of domination: Imperial conquests, Soviet invasion and after the independence of Georgia, ensuing Hybrid warfare, out of which at least two facets emerge – conflict with secessionist Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region, South Ossetia and a continued hybrid pressure on Georgia. The later has a lingering effect as frozen conflicts are used as a leverage but mixed with asymmetric tools of disinformation and propaganda. The paper looks at the World Bank supported Worldwide Governance Indicators (Kaufman and Kraar, 2019), which shows that Georgia displays considerable growth across all six broad dimensions of governance: Freedom of Expression and Accountability, Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism, Government Effectiveness, Regulatory Quality, Rule of Law and Control of Corruption. Across all indicators there is an upward growth. However, one dimension “political stability” ranks the lowest out of the six dimensions in each benchmarked year (1996 – 7.45 and 30 in 2018). The paper hence finds that Georgia has managed to largely isolate negative externality caused by conflict, however, prevalence of hybrid warfare from Russia contributed to a visible vulnerability in terms of “political stability”. Paper argues that it is important to cultivate the resilience to this negative externality in order to continue growth and overcome lingering weaknesses in the Georgian PA system, such as a tendency towards power centralization and the malice of informal rule. Without managing to consolidate this resilience, Georgia risks backsliding, while doing the contrary would contribute to strengthening the political stability.
