• Michael Brintnall, Montgomery College, US, mabrintnall@gmail.com

Michael Brintnall is formerly the Executive Director of the American Political Science Association and of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration in Washington DC, and has held senior positions in academic administration and in the US federal government. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Montgomery College, the Environmental Investigation Agency,  and the American Society for Public Administration.

 

• Gyorgy Hajnal, NISPAcee President / Professor, Head of Department, Corvinus University of Budapest / Senior Researcher, Institute for Political Science, Center for Social Research of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (IPS CSR HAS), Hungary, gyorgy.hajnal@uni-corvinus.hu

Gyorgy Hajnal is a Professor in the Department of Public Policy and Management, Corvinus University of Budapest and Senior Researcher at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Polictical Science. Prior to his current positions he worked as a Senior Researcher/ Head of Department for 15 years at the Hungarian Institute of Public Administration and its successor organisation. Besides his full-time academic positions he has been and contiues to be extensively involved in international research cooperation projects in topics relating to comparative public management reforms. He has also served as a consultant to various international academic, governmental and business organisations. He has been serving as a NISPAcee President since May 2018.

 

 

Aims of the Working Group

Our working group is focused on Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and their participation in governance in the states and regions of Central-Eastern Europe. Our broad objective is to create a forum for the intellectual and practical exploration of the role that NGOs play – independently and in collaboration with government institutions – in governance and in defining and achieving the public good.  We define non-governmental organisations broadly and are especially interested in those whose mission is strongly related to the public interest and whose work is in areas such as governance, social and health services, public policy, citizen participation, human rights, and/or humanitarian aid.

Focus, expectations and topics for the 2019 conference

Bridging the gap between academia and praxis in the analysis and management of civil society is one of our priorities for 2019.  Building bridges between scholars and practitioners can have benefits for NGO’s and academia alike, such as applying participatory action research to policy challenges, fostering service learning in the classroom, and better sharing of practical experience. Therefore, in 2019 we are planning to organise a practitioners’ panel that can create a space for dialogue between scholars and practitioners and foster interaction between the two sectors.

The general theme of the Working Group on NGOs panel for the 2019 conference is the role and performance of NGO’s in governance in CEE countries, neighbouring regions and within the European Integration context. We are especially interested in learning about the following topics:

-    What is the role of NGO’s in governance at the national and local level in CEE countries, and how is this shaped by public attitudes, government policy, legislation, and financial support?
-    What do the relationships between civil society and states look like?
-    What are the examples of existing multisector models of governance in the region, in which NGOs and government are seeking to work together?
-    What conflicts arise between the state and the voluntary sectors; what are their consequences and ways to overcome them?
-    What is the role of NGOs in delivering services at the national and local level in CEE countries?
-    What is the role of civil liberties/watchdog NGOs in countries of Central-Eastern Europe?
-    What are the relationships between organisations within the third sector itself and how are they shaped?
-    What forms of international cooperation take place amongst NGO’s in the region, how does the work of international NGO’s in the region differ from national and local ones, and how do NGOs interact with supranational bodies like the European Union?
-    How do NGOs operate and how are they managed? What are the tools and methods applied by NGOs to measure their effectiveness and efficiency?

Recently, both the non-governmental sector and the geographical area of Central Europe have been attracting the attention of international publishers. Our Working Group invites high-quality papers that, given their sufficient number, could be compiled in a monograph addressing the third sector in the region.

Guidelines for the contributors

We welcome abstracts from all scholars and professionals with an interest in the non-governmental sector and in multi-sector governance processes, including from practitioners working in the sector and we invite all to join us for the 27th NISPAcee Annual Conference in Prague. We welcome papers with a theoretical, empirical, and/or analytical focus that relate to the above mentioned themes.

 

Abstracts will be judged on the relevance and quality of the submission based on the following criteria:
•    Clear and concise description of the paper, conveying its importance and significance in the field
•    Originality of the work
•    Quality of the research design and methodology
•    Relevance of the proposal to the Conference’s theme
Guidelines: Submitted abstract should include the following elements:
•    Title: Clear title reflecting the paper content
•    Authors and their affiliation
•    Abstract: We expect abstracts between 200-400 words. In the case of empirical studies, it should include the research design, clearly stated research questions, data sources, data collection procedures, the analytic approach and, if possible, results.
•    Practical applications to the field should be also mentioned.