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CZECH REPUBLIC

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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE CONTENTS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION PROGRAMMES

The system of public administration education in the Czech Republic is predominantly based on an economics-management approach – most of the universities and faculties outlined earlier provide education that could be grouped in one “public management” block. One notable exception to this general trend is the master’s programme of the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University, which is predominantly focuses on policy analysis.

For analytical purposes, the institutions outlined earlier can be classified as follows:

  1. Faculty of National Economy, Prague University of Economics: a mixture of public administration and economics disciplines;
  2. Faculty of Finance and Accounting, Prague University of Economics: a mixture of economics and public management disciplines;
  3. Faculty of Management, Prague University of Economics in Jindøichuv Hradec: a mixture of public management and economics disciplines;
    4.
  4. Faculty of Economics and Public Administration of Pardubice University: a mixture of public management and economics disciplines;
  5. Faculty of Economics of the Institute of Mining Technology, Technical University in Ostrava: a mixture of economics and public management disciplines
  6. Institute of Sociological Studies of Charles University in Prague (at the Faculty of Social Sciences): mainly a public policy orientation.

Most bachelor’s programmes use the same basic components as Brno, Ostrava and Pardubice and may be characterised similarly.

The entry requirements for these programs are similar across all institutions. To enter a three-year bachelor’s programme, students must complete their secondary education. Master’s programmes (“magister” studies) are at least five years in duration, if including the bachelor’s programme, or a minimum of two years if separated from the bachelor’s. There are, in principle, two ways to enter a master’s programme:

  1. in principle automatically for those in “magister” studies in domestic faculties;
  2. through passing an entry examination and having a bachelor’s degree in specified fields (for those who seek to obtain admission to a master’s programme in a different faculty – a practice that is common among those students who complete their bachelor’s in faculties that are not accredited to offer master’s degrees).

Basic conclusions

Several conclusions may be drawn from the analysis of PA and PA-related programmes provided above:

  1. The study of public administration in the Czech Republic has developed a great deal in terms of the number and types of courses and the faculties in which programmes are offered. Increasing the number of public administration courses is unlikely, as developments to date may result in more public administration graduates than civil service positions requiring special qualifications. PA graduates will appear to be in competition with graduates of classic studies of law and economics or other fields (geography, social science, etc.). Programmes in these fields have been greatly improved in recent years, and therefore, public administration programmes must also be improved in terms of the quality of courses and the efficient division of responsibilities among departments. To date, the development of public administration education has not been well coordinated.
  2. In general, public administration programmes are based on economics and public management, as universities have reacted to the demand for more flexible graduates for both the public and private sectors.
  3. There are major differences between individual programmes, primarily in terms of organisation, personnel and the general prospects for future development. Only a few public administration programmes are well conceived and have the highly qualified teaching staff required for quality master’s programmes.
  4. It is necessary for institutions of higher education to evaluate whether individual major fields of study are well balanced and built upon the strengths of the particular institution. It would be desirable for at least one university to offer a public administration programme with a predominantly legal character, although this is not the case at present. In addition, at least one institution in every macro-region (Bohemia, Moravia) should offer PA programmes with a predominantly economic orientation. The further quantitative development of the study of public administration is only possible to a limited extent within the prevalent focus on law because faculties of law have been conservative when establishing the curricula for public administration programmes.
  5. There are many regional faculties (i.e. exclusive of Prague and Brno) offering public administration education. Their prospects for future development differ according to their specific conditions. In particular, programmes in the Ostrava region have a positive environment developing public administration studies as universities in the region cooperate and, therefore, there is the possibility of creating a complex university network.
  6. There are some problems common to all public administration programmes in the Czech Republic, even within faculties with many of the prerequisites for the field. Of primary importance is the lack of coordination of teaching and research activities in faculties of public administration, as well as the fact that research tends to lag behind teaching efforts. At present, this condition is, to a certain extent, justified by the short history of public administration as an academic field and the fact that initial efforts were focused on building curricula. In the future, however, the lack of coordination between these essential areas will become problematic and may lead to a substantial decrease in the competitiveness of the field with classic economic, legal, sociological and geographic disciplines. In addition, the issue of improving the quality of teaching must be addressed, particularly by introducing young qualified faculty. This is especially true in many regional academic institutions.

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