 |
UKRAINE |
|
UKRAINE |
HISTORICAL FRAMEWORK
Modern public administration programs were established shortly after Ukraine gained its independence in 1991. Prior to this period, there were no programs of this nature in the state. In the former Soviet Union, the role of the state was to administer the economy within boundaries established by the communist party. An independent civil service in which public service professionals advise democratically elected decision-makers and play a major role in policy analysis and implementation was also unfamiliar to Ukraine. Thus, the newly independent Ukraine was relatively unfamiliar with what in the West is generally termed public administration.
In the former Soviet Union, the upper managerial elite traditionally had technical or agricultural backgrounds. The communist party established a network of institutions to train those destined for senior managerial responsibilities. Administrative training implied the preparation of bureaucrats to fully comply with party policy and strictly implement party decisions. There were no non-party institutions to train independent civil service professionals. Party decisions, not law, were of the highest priority.
Upon gaining its independence, Ukraine found itself without a proper managerial infrastructure. Specifically, management in the Ukrainian government was understaffed, under-trained, poorly paid and was not prepared to play an independent policy-advising role or for the effective delivery of public services.
The idea for an institute of public administration originated in discussions in 1991 in the Council of Advisors to the Supreme Rada (Parliament). On 18 December 1991, Dr. Bohdan Krawchenko, then working for the Secretariat of the Council, wrote a proposal to the Presidium of Parliament urging the creation of a PA institute. Real progress towards establishing the institution was made after the December 1991 referendum on independence and presidential elections. At the end of that year, at the initiative of Krawchenko, a four-person delegation from the presidential administration headed by Professor Mykhola Mykhailchenko, the President’s Advisor on Domestic Political Affairs, visited France and the École Nationale d’Administration. In January and February 1992, the institute was discussed in various state bodies. In March 1992, then-president Leonid Krawchuk issued a decree establishing the Institute of Public Administration and Local Government of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The rapid founding of the institute is largely due to Professor Mykhailchenko, Dr. Serhiy Komissarenko, former deputy prime minister and ambassador to Great Britain, and Mr. M. Fomenko and Mr. A. Bohomolov, head and deputy head (respectively) of the Ministry of Higher Education of the Cabinet of Ministers.
The decree instructed the Cabinet of Ministers to ratify the statutes of the institute, provide appropriate facilities, appoint its management and outline the student selection process. The Institute of Public Administration and Local Government used none of the traditions of former “party schools.” On the contrary, the basic idea, institutional model, training philosophy, program structure and content, as well as the qualification granted were absolutely new in Ukraine. Moreover, only Western patterns were taken into consideration when designing these academic programs. Ultimately, the Institute of Public Administration and Local Government was completely different from the former “party schools.” The content of the program was developed by Ukrainian instructors without “party school” backgrounds and took into consideration the educational credentials of applicants, few of whom were trained in social sciences or administration.
The relationship between the institute and the government was inspired by French and Spanish experience. In the Ukrainian context, a direct relationship with public authorities was seen as an important prerequisite for training a new generation of public servants (Krawchenko. Comandor, 1/99, 1). This relationship ensured financial support for the institute and employment of graduates in the government.
On 30 May 1995, President Leonid Kuchma issued decree 398, which restructured the Institute of Public Administration and Local Government into the Academy of Public Administration, Office of the President of Ukraine. Subsequently, four branches of the academy were established in Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Lviv and Odessa. The institute’s MPA program became a major program of the academy.
The first master’s program in public administration in Ukraine has been offered since 1992 by the former Institute of Public Administration and Local Government and the current Academy of Public Administration. From 1992 to 1998, this was a one-year program, constantly being revised to reflect rapid and often unexpected changes in the quickly developing Ukrainian environment. The program was developed and introduced with the assistance of governments and partner institutions in Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. The academy staff’s efforts to assure the quality of the program lead to its accreditation by the University of North London in 1995.
The current program is the result of a range of measures undertaken by the Institute of Public Administration and Local Government and the Academy of Public Administration. The presidential administration and the Cabinet of Ministers provided input in the form of a series of writs and regulations governing the academy’s policies and major practices. These measures were designed to attract public servants motivated to improve their theoretical abilities and professional skills in a broad range of public administration fields and who would implement their training in senior government positions.
[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Part 1 ] [ Part 2 ] [ Part 3 ] [ Part 4 ] [ Part 5 ] [ Part 6 ] [ Part 7 ] [ Part 8 ] [ Part 9 ] [ Annexes ]
