WG 9: The Rule of Law & Public Administration
WG coordinators:
- Polonca Kovač, Faculty of Administration, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, Polonca.Kovac@fu.uni-lj.si
Polonca Kovač is a full
professor of administrative law and public administration at the Faculty
of Administration, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. She is as a
steering committee member of the NISPAcee and a co-director of the Law
and Administration panel of the European Group of Public Administration
(EGPA). Her research and expertise are focused primarily on good
governance principles, particularly rule of law, transparency and
participation, administrative procedural law, inspection supervision and
tax procedures, and reforms related to Europeanisation of public
administration. She is an editor and author of numerous scientific
articles, conference papers and edited books, editor-in-chief of the
Central European Public Administration Review (CEPAR), and acts as an
OECD/SIGMA expert.
- Anamarija Musa, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Croatia, amusa@pravo.hr
Anamarija Musa is an associate professor at
the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Croatia. Her research and
teaching topics include public administration reform and
Europeanisation, regulation and regulatory governance, transparency and
participation, e-government, local government and organisation theory.
Besides academic work, she gained wide practical experience in projects
and law drafting in Croatia (access to information, RIA, ombudsman,
state administration, civil service, and administrative procedure) and
SEE region, as well as the Croatian Information Commissioner 2013-2018.
Call for papers
Background, objectives and the main topics of the WG
The "rule of law” is a traditional principle, aimed at limiting the power of the state, administrative institutions and officials towards citizens and other subjects and at ensuring that authoritative decisions are legally based and generally sound. It frames public policies design and the rule making (regulatory level), individual administrative proceedings and implementation of authoritative decisions and legislation, as well as any other administrative actions (implementation level). Known in various legacies, from Aristotle’s recitals and Middle Age theory (Dicey) to the 19th century German Rechtsstaat or French Etat de droit, the principle evolved over time within different cultural and political-administrative systems. Nowadays it represents a set of complementary (sub)principles and guarantees, such as proprietor rights, access to information, right to be heard and participate in public matters, judicial review, etc. The rule of law is a "supra” principle of good administration and sound public governance. The rule of law in administrative relations is also one of the salient elements of the ongoing transitional development in CEEs where, in both a general way and to a certain extent, in contrast, to traditional democracies. Moreover, it reflects a significant Europeanisation effect due to EU frameworks. However, the legal aspects are only one dimension of modern administration that must not exclude economic, managerial, political and other considerations.
The "rule of law” is a traditional principle, aimed at limiting the power of the state, administrative institutions and officials towards citizens and other subjects and at ensuring that authoritative decisions are legally based and generally sound. It frames public policies design and the rule making (regulatory level), individual administrative proceedings and implementation of authoritative decisions and legislation, as well as any other administrative actions (implementation level). Known in various legacies, from Aristotle’s recitals and Middle Age theory (Dicey) to the 19th century German Rechtsstaat or French Etat de droit, the principle evolved over time within different cultural and political-administrative systems. Nowadays it represents a set of complementary (sub)principles and guarantees, such as proprietor rights, access to information, right to be heard and participate in public matters, judicial review, etc. The rule of law is a "supra” principle of good administration and sound public governance. The rule of law in administrative relations is also one of the salient elements of the ongoing transitional development in CEEs where, in both a general way and to a certain extent, in contrast, to traditional democracies. Moreover, it reflects a significant Europeanisation effect due to EU frameworks. However, the legal aspects are only one dimension of modern administration that must not exclude economic, managerial, political and other considerations.
This WG group at the NISPAcee 2021 Conference welcomes papers exploring specific sub-elements of the rule of law in the CEE region based on national case studies or in the comparative dimension (of CEE countries or CEE countries and other countries in Europe or beyond). Generally, the central issues are expected to be related to the challenges to the rule of law in the CEEs, or the emergence of the rule of law as a part of administrative reforms in EU candidate countries. Given the influences of the administrative doctrine as well as theory, the impact of both European and global administrative law on CEE administrations and governance are warmly greeted. We specifically aim to initiate academic debate and critically evaluate the recent trends. However, special emphasis on the up-to-date topics, such as the general 2021 conference theme on collaborative governance and overcoming COVID-19 are particularly welcome.
The key topics to be addressed in 2021 (but are not restricted to) are the following:
• Topic 1: Collaborative governance and participation in administrative procedures and processes.
• Topic 2: Transparency v. data protection/tax secrecy & accountability of authorities/officials.
• Topic 3: COVID-19 pandemic measures as a learning lesson in the light of the RoL.
The requirements for the contributions
Both theoretical and empirical papers, focusing on national case studies or comparative work within and beyond the above three topics, are welcome. The papers can be grounded in various disciplines, from public administration, law, public policy/political science, economics, to interdisciplinary manuscripts. Due to the cancellation of the 2020 Split conference, especially the authors, whose papers applications were already accepted, are invited to apply.
Both theoretical and empirical papers, focusing on national case studies or comparative work within and beyond the above three topics, are welcome. The papers can be grounded in various disciplines, from public administration, law, public policy/political science, economics, to interdisciplinary manuscripts. Due to the cancellation of the 2020 Split conference, especially the authors, whose papers applications were already accepted, are invited to apply.
Abstracts/applications should include (i) the selected topic as embedded within the RoL, (ii) indication of the research problem addressed, (iii) methodology (qualitative and quantitative), (iv) scope of the paper, and (v) expected findings as well as (vi) academic and/or practical contribution of the paper, i.e. its originality and significance for the RoL in public administration/governance. The prospective authors are encouraged to submit applications and especially full papers based on IMRaD structure. The high-quality full papers will be considered for publishing in the NISPAcee journal and other editions.