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POSITIONING ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN RELATION TO THE DISCIPLINES TO WHICH THEY ARE MOST CLOSELY RELATED
Public administration programs taught at the law faculties in Belgrade and Novi Sad were not derived exclusively from legal studies. From the time of the inception of these programs, universities were influenced by the public administration field in the United States and, to some extent, Austria, France, Germany and Great Britain.
Law and legal disciplines, although not dominant, are strongly represented. Specialisations at the master’s level include a variety of subjects: public administration, decision-making at the central and local level, ombudsmen, administrative law, general administrative procedure, administrative control, administrative reform and reorganisation, and courts and judicial control, among others.
The majority of master’s and doctoral degrees are conferred in law-related areas. It is understandable as the oldest and most prestigious public administration programs are offered by the law faculties. The public administration curricula in law schools remain partially under continental influence, and therefore, legalistic approaches are prominent. However, since the 1980s, the number of students interested in areas other than law has continually grown with new interest in government efficiency and effectiveness, public deficit and new public managerialism in some Commonwealth countries, the United States, Scandinavia and other developed countries.
Recent developments in public administration, public policy theory and practice, the introduction of new management methods and techniques and the need to revitalise and downsize the civil service has created a new environment in academic institutions. Market liberalisation and the new role of the government in transition countries, decentralisation, civil society and the protection of human rights were introduced in the program in management science and attract many graduate students, particularly practitioners.
Public administration programs are still somewhat overloaded with law and legal approaches. Legal courses prevail over those concerned specifically with issues of democratic governance or public administration management. Basic lectures on public administration, personnel policies, human resources management and strategic and process management are covered in single, one semester course in organisational science. There are still no clearly and positively discernible trends towards change. It appears, however, that the focus of public administration streams in law schools is gradually shifting from legal to political (value-oriented), organisational (efficiency-oriented) studies.
The influence of academia on the actual practice of public administration is extremely limited. The current government is against any systemic change in public administration structures, objectives or policies. During the last decade, no significant measures aimed at administrative reform were initiated, nor were any training needs assessments conducted to determine public service needs. Therefore, those needs are not adequately reflected in training programs and curricula. At the post-entry state exam, apprentice lawyers are required to study largely routine elements of legal practice. The gap between theory and practice has never been as deep in the recent history of Yugoslavia. One example: the new federal civil service law has not been completed after five years of preparation.
The public administration program of the Faculty of Political Science was established on an interdisciplinary basis, although political science disciplines dominate the curricula. Some courses tackle issues of governance in a practical manner are taught during the fourth year of studies (public administration, local government, international relations and Yugoslav foreign policy, contemporary economic systems and relations, public opinion). Most courses approach public administration issues from the viewpoint of a classic political science program. However, in the last few years, the emphasis of the curricula has gradually shifted from a theoretical approach to a professional, practice-oriented one.
Public administration programs in the Faculty of Organisational Sciences are predominantly based on general management and management science with a strong empirical bias. Disciplines include personnel policy, informatics, management of public enterprises and operations research, among others. Management remains the dominant discipline, with recent research tending to focus on public management. The faculty is active in organising seminars and international conferences (such as SIMORG, etc). The curricula and research is based not only on indigenous experience, but also on contemporary Western experience and practice.
Some advanced practice-oriented public administration programs are delivered at the local level, particularly in counties and municipalities in which the opposition won the 1996 local elections. Training and managerial programs in those counties were organised and delivered with the assistance of the Open Society Institute, USAID (Nis and Kragujevac) and other similar organisations.
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