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LATVIA |
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LATVIA |
HISTORICAL FRAMEWORK
In the period between the two world wars, public administration did not exist as an academic field of study in Latvia, and the background of civil servants at that time was, in most cases, law or economics. Furthermore, public administration was not offered as an academic programme during the fifty-year period of Soviet occupation, when Latvia was part of the USSR.
The first public administration specialisation in Latvia was established in the University of Latvia’s Faculty of Economics and Management, after the country re-gained its independence in 1991. It was a bachelor’s degree sub-programme concentrated on the organisation of local government and was offered as part of the business administration programme. The need for such a curriculum was related to the process of decentralising state power and administration and increasing the role of local governments. A public administration master’s course was established in the same faculty in 1994, and both were accredited by the Accreditation Committee of the Ministry of Education in September 1997 (bachelor’s) and in May 1998 (master’s).
A BA programme in regional development and administration (RDA) was established in 1995 at the Latvian University of Agriculture’s Faculty of Economics as part of the bachelor’s programme in economics. An MA programme in regional development and administration (RDA) was established in the same institution two years later. In 1996, an MA programme in the sociology of organisations and public administration was established at the Latvian University of Agriculture’s Institute of Humanities. A BA programme in the sociology of organisations and public administration started in September 1999.
The need to provide ministries, agencies, local governments and other public institutions with qualified pa specialists was the primary rationale for establishing programmes. Today public administration in Latvia has many shortcomings as the civil service system inherited from the Soviet Union had numerous flaws. The influence of the previous socialist system on newly created organisational structures and management methods is still noticeable. Many officials from the old regime are still employed in public administration, having studied and worked under a command economy, centralised planning and strong subordination. While some have the necessary skills, some have outwardly adopted new methods but are nevertheless truly convinced in the ways of the old regime. The principles of socialist thinking still dominate today; the official is the “king” of society and gives orders, not a servant of society.
The activities of civil servants in Latvia are still not open to public scrutiny, thus increasing the potential for mistakes and corruption. These shortcomings are currently being addressed in the public administration reform process, and they could be reduced as a result of training highly qualified specialists in the field.
The need to supply local governments with qualified civil servants who capable of decision-making in social, economic and territorial development planning was the rational for establishing bachelor’s and master’s programmes (sub-programmes) in regional development and administration (RDA). The need to provide specialised training in sociology for the next generation of civil servants and other employees of local and central government institutions was the rational for establishing master’s and bachelor’s programmes in the sociology of organisations and public administration.
These programmes are relatively new and have not yet fully evolved, and the initial development of a European and comparative dimension began only recently.
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