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(For more details in history of WG look at the Second phase and Third phase)

 

In the years 2001 – 2002 the Working Group was chaired by new coordinators Dr. Elke Loeffler and Dr. Tatiana Zaitseva who chose “Improving the Quality of Public Services” as the overall theme for the meeting of the Working Group on

 

This Working Group was established at the 7th NISPAcee Annual Conference in Sofia on "Improving Relations between the Administration and the Public" in March 1999. It conducted policy-relevant empirical research on improving the quality of public administration in Central and Eastern Europe and the NIS. The core research problem for the Working Group in 1999 was how to improve the quality of service provided by the public administration. This question was explored with the use of analytical case studies drawn from the national and local level providing in-depth information on the preconditions, operations, and relative success of individual reform initiatives. This information  provided the basis for highlighting best practice in the region and developing policy recommendations for raising the quality of public administration.

 

 

The results of the group’s research efforts  led to:
Research guidelines and case studies: A set of Research Guidelines was issued, paper abstracts selected and empirical research conducted by members of the Working Group;
Plenary meeting: Discussion of draft case studies presented by Working Group members at the session held during the 8th NISPAcee Annual Conference (Budapest 13-15 April 2000).
Publication: Revision and selection of case studies for publication, as part of the Conference Proceedings for the 8th NISPAcee Annual Conference.

 

Through the activities, the Working Group  made significant progress in achieving the three goals established for the first phase of its activity, namely
– to conduct exploratory empirical research in CEE and NIS countries in the two main fields of service delivery and supportive administrative framework for the private sector in order to develop a set of policy recommendations. This goal was fully achieved through the preparation of a comparative overview paper and was pursued during the second phase of the Working Group's activity.
- to develop a set of working hypotheses for future explanatory investigation (i.e. with a focus on causal relations).

 

The project was largely successful in achieving its goals. Furthermore, experience to date has illustrated: a) the keen interest among practitioners and academics from the region to exchange information and experience within a Working Group format; and b) the value of a comparative perspective when analysing national efforts to improve the quality of public administration.