The 31th NISPAcee Annual Conference

Conference 2023 Beograd, Serbia, May 25-27, 2023

Excellent conference. I really enjoyed the papers, speakers, schedule and location and great staff!

D.B., United States, 27th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2019, Prague

...relating to public administration and policy. Good opportunities for networking.

N.D., Georgia, 27th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2019, Prague

Excellent participants, argument-driven discussions, impartial and supportive Chairs in the Working Group.

D.G., Republic of North Macedonia, 27th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2019, Prague

...to detail and I really enjoyed the supportive and encouraging atmosphere there. Thank you!

R.B., Lithuania, 27th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2019, Prague

...both in terms of academic quality and logistics, and also social events. It was a true joy.

E.Z., Bulgaria, 27th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2019, Prague

...The special programmes were really excellent and we took home many varied experiences.

P.N., Hungary, 27th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2019, Prague

...Sessions were interesting, scholars were engaging and all the social events were amazing!

B.K., Kazakhstan, 26th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2018, Iasi

Excellent organization, excellent food. Compliments to the organizers, they did a wonderful job!

V.J., Netherlands, 26th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2018, Iasi

...I must say that the PhD pre-conference seminar was the most useful seminar of my life. Very well...

K.V., Czech Republic, 26th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2018, Iasi

... I would even argue that they are the very best - both in terms of scientific content and also entertainment…

P.W., Denmark, 26th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2018, Iasi

An opportunity to learn from other researchers and other countries' experiences on certain topics.

G.A.C., Hungary, 25th Conference 2017, Kazan

Very well organised, excellent programme and fruitful discussions.

M.M.S., Slovakia, 25th Conference 2017, Kazan

The NISPAcee conference remains a very interesting conference.

M.D.V., Netherlands, 25th Conference 2017, Kazan

Thank you for the opportunity to be there, and for the work of the organisers.

D.Z., Hungary, 24th Conference 2016, Zagreb

Well organized, as always. Excellent conference topic and paper selection.

M.S., Serbia, 23rd Conference 2015, Georgia

Perfect conference. Well organised. Very informative.

M.deV., Netherlands, 22nd Conference 2014, Hungary

Excellent conference. Congratulations!

S. C., United States, 20th Conference 2012, Republic of Macedonia

Thanks for organising the pre-conference activity. I benefited significantly!

R. U., Uzbekistan, 19th Conference, Varna 2011

Each information I got, was received perfectly in time!

L. S., Latvia, 21st Conference 2013, Serbia

The Conference was very academically fruitful!

M. K., Republic of Macedonia, 20th Conference 2012, Republic of Macedonia

Read more testimonials
 :: Anonymous user Login / Register 
 share

Optimised for Tablet | Smartphone
WG 4: Politico-Administrative Relations in CEE

Chairs:

  • Bernadette Connaughton, Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Limerick, Ireland
Dr Bernadette Connaughton is a Lecturer in Public Administration and served as Head, Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Limerick, from 2012-2015. Her teaching and research interests include comparative politico-administrative relations, ministerial advisers, environmental policy, and Europeanisation. From 2002-2008 she co-chaired the NISPAcee working group on Politico-Administrative Relations with Georg Sootla and B.Guy Peters. Her recent publications include a chapter in Ministers, Minders and Mandarins: An International Study of Relationships at the Executive Summit of Parliamentary Democracies (eds R. Shaw and C. Eichbaum) and a book The Implementation of Environmental Policy in Ireland: Lessons from translating EU directives into action (MUP in press).
  • Katarina Staronova, Institute of Public Policy, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
Katarina Staronova graduated from Wagner School of Public Service, New York University USA and Central European University Budapest, Hungary. She hold PhD. from political science at Comenius University Bratislava Slovakia. In 2003 she worked as a research fellow at Woodrow Wilson Research Center, Washington D.C., USA.
She is an associate professor at the Institute of Public Policy, Comenius University Bratislava, Slovakia, having co-founded it in 2005 and which offers first MPA program in Slovakia. At the same time she teaches at the Leadership program of RANEPA, Moscow since 2018 and is a guest lecturer at several Universities in CEE countries. Her research/scientific activities specialize on politico-administrative relations, public administration modernization, civil service reform, the process of public policy creation (including the transposition process), etc. She was part of a working group at the Government Office Slovakia, preparing Strategy for human resource management in the public sector 2015-2020, and in creating the new Civil Service Law, which came into effect on 1 June 2017. She is an author of numerous academic articles and studies on issues in civil service, e.g. baseline report on Individual Performance Appraisal in Central Government Organizations in Western Balkans.
She also works as a consultant in the issues of public administration reform, civil service management and policy capacity of civil servants for the World Bank, UNDP, and OECD, where she has participated in analytical missions in countries such as Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Moldova, Kosovo, Georgia, Romania and others.


Call for papers


The theme of Politico-Administrative Relations (PAR) and its focus on observing the roles and interplay between ministers and senior bureaucrats endures, both as a scholarly enquiry and as a practitioner concern. In Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), politico-administrative relations present a variety of arrangements across country settings that are shaped by many factors, including public administration tradition, political culture, institutional conditions, and levels of trust. In the past three decades the bilateral relationship between politicians and bureaucrats has also broadened to include the role of the ministerial adviser. The trilateral relationship may be presented as the minister at one point of a triangle, senior civil servants at the second and ministerial advisers at the third point (Connaughton, 2010). The empirical insights from CEE countries on advisers, in particular, and a comparative analysis of ministers, civil servants and advisers more broadly is, however, both under-represented and underdeveloped in the literature (see Krajňák et al. 2020; Sedlačko, Staroňová 2016; Pshizova, 2015; Staroňová and Rybar forthcoming as an illustration of the contributions to date).

While public administration literature on CEE has flourished, it is opportune to revisit and continue to explore these topics within the forum of NISPAcee to take cognisance of the trilateral relationship between ministers, civil servants and advisers, and developments in how the policy making process is conducted. There is no shortage of literature published on politico-administrative relations and civil service reform in CEE (Staroňová and Rybar, 2021; Zankina, 2017; Staroňová and Gajduschek, 2014; Meyer Sahling and Veen, 2012; Dimitrova, 2002) which indicates the diversity of the countries and the many factors influencing PAR relationships. The introduction of advisers/partisan appointments may introduce different interpretations of politicisation patterns and public administration capacity, therefore deserving more attention. Also, how top-level appointments and structures are operationalised in times of crisis and under populist parties influences PAR dynamics. Further, the role of trust in making appointments and sustaining working relationships between bureaucrats and political principals. These are important areas to continue to explore in PAR studies.


This WG aims to bring together scholars from different countries and professional backgrounds to consider theoretical perspectives and discuss empirical findings on politico-administrative relations in CEE and beyond. We are interested in scholarship exploring interpretations and patterns of politicisation, arrangements for the provision of political and policy advice, and the role, functions, and impact of the ministerial adviser. We also welcome papers on the coordination of the public policy process and exploring the development of policy advisory systems.

Submissions may include, but are not limited, to papers on the:

•Assessments of politico-administrative relations in CEE and comparative papers.

•Role of ministerial advisers (partisan appointees, political advisers, policy adviser) in CEE and their institutional arrangements.

•Effects of politicisation on senior appointments and civil service development; policy making, implementation and overall public administration performance (including EU policy delivery).

•Longitudinal studies of career pathways and recruitment patterns of senior officials.

•Exploring different forms and settings for politicisation and patronage.

•Novel ways of measuring the scope and extent of politicization in civil service systems.

•Development of policy advisory systems (PAS)

Abstracts should align with the PAR working group themes, identify a clear research question and indicate the proposed contribution of the research. The content of the abstract should also provide information about the theoretical framework presented and methodology used in the research.


From participants of this working group full paper is required before the conference.
Deadline of full paper submission is 01/05/2023.

You can find manuscript guidelines on THIS LINK.