The 29th NISPAcee Annual Conference

The 30th NISPAcee Annual Conference, Bucharest, Romania, June 2 - June 4, 2022

Excellent conference. I really enjoyed the papers, speakers, schedule and location and great staff!

D.B., United States, 27th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2019, Prague

...relating to public administration and policy. Good opportunities for networking.

N.D., Georgia, 27th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2019, Prague

Excellent participants, argument-driven discussions, impartial and supportive Chairs in the Working Group.

D.G., Republic of North Macedonia, 27th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2019, Prague

...to detail and I really enjoyed the supportive and encouraging atmosphere there. Thank you!

R.B., Lithuania, 27th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2019, Prague

...both in terms of academic quality and logistics, and also social events. It was a true joy.

E.Z., Bulgaria, 27th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2019, Prague

...The special programmes were really excellent and we took home many varied experiences.

P.N., Hungary, 27th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2019, Prague

...Sessions were interesting, scholars were engaging and all the social events were amazing!

B.K., Kazakhstan, 26th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2018, Iasi

Excellent organization, excellent food. Compliments to the organizers, they did a wonderful job!

V.J., Netherlands, 26th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2018, Iasi

...I must say that the PhD pre-conference seminar was the most useful seminar of my life. Very well...

K.V., Czech Republic, 26th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2018, Iasi

... I would even argue that they are the very best - both in terms of scientific content and also entertainment…

P.W., Denmark, 26th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2018, Iasi

An opportunity to learn from other researchers and other countries' experiences on certain topics.

G.A.C., Hungary, 25th Conference 2017, Kazan

Very well organised, excellent programme and fruitful discussions.

M.M.S., Slovakia, 25th Conference 2017, Kazan

The NISPAcee conference remains a very interesting conference.

M.D.V., Netherlands, 25th Conference 2017, Kazan

Thank you for the opportunity to be there, and for the work of the organisers.

D.Z., Hungary, 24th Conference 2016, Zagreb

Well organized, as always. Excellent conference topic and paper selection.

M.S., Serbia, 23rd Conference 2015, Georgia

Perfect conference. Well organised. Very informative.

M.deV., Netherlands, 22nd Conference 2014, Hungary

Excellent conference. Congratulations!

S. C., United States, 20th Conference 2012, Republic of Macedonia

Thanks for organising the pre-conference activity. I benefited significantly!

R. U., Uzbekistan, 19th Conference, Varna 2011

Each information I got, was received perfectly in time!

L. S., Latvia, 21st Conference 2013, Serbia

The Conference was very academically fruitful!

M. K., Republic of Macedonia, 20th Conference 2012, Republic of Macedonia

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30th NISPAcee Annual Conference

"Crises, Vulnerability and Resilience in Public Administration"

June 2-4, 2022

Bucharest, Romania


WG 10: Politico-Administrative Relations in CEE

 

 

Working group coordinators:

Staronova Katarina, Comenius University, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, staronova@governance.sk

Bernadette Connaughton, Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Limerick, Ireland. Bernadette.Connaughton@ul.ie

– Report

 

Working Group on Politico-Administrative Relations

The reconstituted Working Group on Politico-Administrative Relations (PAR) held three sessions in Bucharest. This was a mix of virtual and in person collaboration where the contributions came under three general themes – interpreting politico-administrative relations in times of crisis and reform, top-level appointments and patterns of politicisation, and PAR factors influencing public servants’ competences and activities. The papers/presentations represented diverse country settings and traditions, including Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Norway, Germany, and Ireland.

 

We note from our presentations and discussions, in line with developments in the literature and in practice, that there is both the interest and scope for further work interpreting the concept of politicisation in both CEE and Western European contexts. Several papers (Romania, Germany as country cases) explored politicisation through viewing patterns of appointments over time, mandate expansion, scepticism about the relevance of political criteria (party membership), and new approaches to measuring politicisation. Further, the role of trust in making appointments and sustaining working relations emerged in linked discussions about understanding relationships between civil servants and political principals. This was reviewed comprehensively through the presentation of primary research on the Slovakian case.

 

Another key theme arising in the PAR sessions was understanding PAR, institutional responses, and the role of the policy advisory system in times of crisis or reform. This was illustrated through presentations/papers from Czech Republic, Ireland, Romania and Slovakia on coordination responses and the structures for policy advice during Covid 19, pension reform and climate change.

 

More generally, we find that path dependency and the influence of traditions resonates in all country cases explored.  Also, several papers based their studies on existing public information – state databases, archival records, reports  - and we are cognisant of the importance of such sources given the challenges that can arise in studying PAR.

 

Based on these contributions we find potential to continue our conversations about politico-administrative relations at the 31st Annual NISPAcee conference.