22nd NISPAcee Annual Conference | NISPAcee Information Portal

The 22nd NISPAcee Annual Conference, organised in co-operation with the Corvinus University of Budapest, Budapest, Hungary and the National University of Public Service, Budapest, Hungary, was attended by 350 participants from 41 countries worldwide. This included 21 CEE countries covered by NISPAcee’s institutional membership.

NISPAcee would like to thank the local organisers, the Corvinus University of Budapest and the National University of Public Service for the excellent organisation of the conference, financial support and preparation of the social events, which created a friendly and pleasant atmosphere for conference participants.

NISPAcee would also like to thank the programme coordinators of the conference sessions and working groups for their contributions to the high scientific and academic value of the entire event.

For the fourth time, NISPAcee included special Pre-conference Programmes for Young Researchers: Master Class "How to improve your paper”. The Master Class was conducted by Professor Dr. Michiel de Vries, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

The conference was opened in the Hungarian Parliament with welcoming and opening speeches given by representatives of NISPAcee, Corvinus University of Budapest, National University of Public Service, and IIAS. The conference programme continued at the Corvinus University with the working sessions on the main conference theme, Panel on Max Weber and Public Policy Today, general sessions, meetings of research working groups, EAPAA session, ASPA-NASPAA-NISPAcee and ASPA panels, panel on Islamic PA and other panels which enriched the programme of the conference with new information. In addition to the WGs, NISPAcee organised special sessions which focused on the current hot topics of PA practice in CEE to be explored and discussed with practitioners - Colloquium for Practitioners.

All details on the conference page: www.nispa.org/conference2014

Reports of the NISPAcee Working Groups

I. Working Group on Local Government

WG coordinators:

Arto Haveri, School of Management, University of Tampere, Finland

Gabor Soos, Institute for Political Science (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

In line with the general theme of the conference, the 7th year of the Working Group on Local Government focused on the dynamics between government- and governance-oriented developments at the local level in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

The number of applications totalled 38, slightly lower than in previous years. Twenty-two abstracts were accepted and 15 papers presented in the four sessions. The geographical coverage was reasonably good. The biggest group came from Hungary, but there were papers also from Poland, Romania, Russia, Lithuania, Finland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia and Estonia. This year too, cross-country comparisons were few, although they were particularly encouraged. However, two interesting comparative papers were presented, both connected to the topic of the working group. As with each year, a set of papers concentrated on local government systems and reforms as a major determinant of local government development. Issues of good governance and citizen participation were also covered in several papers.

II. Working Group on e-Government

WG coordinators:

Kristina Reinsalu, Estonian e-Governance Academy, Tallinn, Estonia

Ljupco Todorovski, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

This year we received twenty-two abstracts in the first round of submissions and authors of twelve of these abstracts submitted full papers, which were included in the final programme. The majority of these papers addressed the relevant research and/or practical issues related to e-government and more broadly, using information-communication technology (ICT) in the public administration domain. Authors of the papers employed appropriate theoretical and methodological frameworks to approach them. This is contrary to previous years, when the majority of papers focused on an ad-hoc, descriptive analysis of a specific ICT-based solution. Authors now compare different ICT solutions and approaches to problems of public administration in different sectors, regions or countries. We clustered the papers into four thematic sessions entitled "Setting goals for e-government”, "Change of procedures and processes”, "From policies to e-governance” and "Challenges”. More than twenty participants from numerous countries, including Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Georgia, Estonia, Hungary, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, United Kingdom and the United States of America, actively discussed these topics during the sessions. This year, following the initiative of John Taylor, the editor of the Information Polity journal, we granted a best-paper award to the authors of the paper entitled "The Quest for Success of e-Government: What the Structure and Allocation of IT Spending Tell Us”: Márta Aranyossy, Adrienn Fekó and András Nemeslaki. They received a one-year subscription to the Information Polity journal.

III. Working Group on Civil Service

WG coordinators:

Patrycja Joanna Suwaj, Judge, Poland

Hans Rieger, dbb akademie, Germany

With an average of more than 15 – 20 participants in each session (except the last one – conflicting with a parallel penal session) this working group was very well attended. The presenters and the participants were a good mixture coming from both science and practice. This mixture of participants could also be observed in the presentations, where we had scientific findings and comparative studies, as well as practical implementation and project reports.

Some participants join the group for the long-term which gives the opportunity for further development as well as specialisation.

It was also obvious that the working group hosts a broad exchange between experts from various countries: old EU member states’ representatives combined with new EU member states’ experts, non-EU member states’ experts, USA experts, and experts from central and south Asian countries.

In the warm-up, the participants introduced themselves and formulated their various expectations. After the warm-up, in order to have some team spirit in the group, we decided to have a 15-minute presentation and a 15-minute discussion of each paper which was selected for presentation.

Under the main conference theme "Max Weber” in the WG "Public service”, different topics were covered (in short):

Legal status of personnel.

Administrative reforms and success factors.

Human resources management.

Gender.

Innovative competencies.

Civil service reform Afghanistan.

Retirement factors.

Labour market characteristics – private and public Sector employment.

Public service succession pool.

Job security.

Impact of the EU in CEE countries.

Many new ideas, especially from the young professionals, were welcomed and discussed at length.

All papers had clear objectives and also some practical solutions. Some project reports were presented for the third time, so it was very interesting to follow the project results and the project implementation.

This presentation concept should be taken into consideration by NISPAcee as an alternative presentation structure.

Most presentations were very much improved: the presenters avoided a too broad historical background discussion and came straight to their message and what was learned from their findings.

Within the discussions, we received new ideas for the WG in 2015 in Tiblisi. Also, because of more and more overlapping content with new panels (see Saturday) and other working groups, we decided to come back to the roots of this Working Group:

- Integrity Management

A linkage to an existing project in South Caucasus countries will be taken into consideration.

IV. Working Group on Public Administration Reform in CEECA

WG Coordinators:

Veronica Junjan, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

Diana Iancu, National School of Political Studies and Public Administration, Romania

The theme of the 22nd NISPAcee Annual conference in Budapest "Government vs. Governance in Central and Eastern Europe” was very inspiring for the WG IV PAR in CEECA. During the five sessions assigned to our group, 18 out of the 19 which were originally selected were presented. The papers were grouped into sessions according to the following central themes: Contextualisation; Reform Agendas in the Western Balkans and CEE; Effectiveness in Central Asia and Caucasus; Results in CEE, and Lessons and Trends. Our audience included practitioners and academics with, on average, 22 participants per session, and engaged in very lively discussions. Participants brought into the discussions a variety of practical and personal experiences, theoretical frameworks, and methodological approaches.

The discussions reached several conclusions. First, it is important to clarify the context where reforms are being designed and where they are being implemented. The participants presented diverse theoretical frameworks and methodologies used to analyse the institutional and social context where reform efforts are carried out. Second, more reflection is needed in terms of defining, measuring, and evaluating reform results (again, across different institutional and social contexts). Difficulties in defining "what do we measure?” and "how do we measure?” were extensively discussed, especially when taking into account the multitude of stakeholders (with different perspectives) active within the governance structures. Third, additional attention needs to be paid to interpretation issues. Different positions were exchanged concerning the differences between "myth” and "reality”, as well as differences between "ideology "and "practice” in evaluating reforms. International diffusion of measuring techniques and methodologies can be interpreted, both as an attempt to test and refine theories across different institutional and social settings, as well as a "socialisation instrument” for governments aiming to position themselves in an international setting.

The attempts to take stock of the success of the reforms (however defined) can be interpreted as an endeavour towards speaking the truth to power. There are different ways of attaining that objective, with different degrees of success. It is challenging to envisage innovative ways to address that diversity in order to learn from each other’s experiences - academics and practitioners alike.

V. Working Group on Internationalisation and Networking of Public Administration Studies and Civil Servants’ Training Systems

WG coordinator:

Eugenijus Chlivickas, The Training Centre of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania

Internationalisation and networking processes are one of the most important conditions for a modernisation of public administration studies and civil servants’ training systems in the European Union and in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The public administration studies and civil servants' continuous training systems are closely related to the strengthening of administrative capacities and new quality creation according to the new global challenges.

In general the following relevant problems were discussed in the working group:

· new challenges to develop public administration studies under conditions of internationalisation and networking;

· progressive experience of public administration studies accumulated through international practice;

· establishment and development of public servants’ education and training systems;

· development and implementation of national and international solutions for the improvement of such systems, based on lifelong learning principles.

The main attention focused on the following issues: accepting new challenges for the improvement of public servants’ training, studies and qualification quality; how to make public administration studies and professional development quality relevant to international standards and current needs; the importance of internationalisation and networking for teaching and professional development processes; sharing new experiences accumulated in CEE countries and through members of the EU, whilst improving public servants’ qualifications and organising teaching and studies; international cooperation: its cultivation not only in CEE countries, but also within the EU and Europe focusing on the EU quality parameters; possibilities for the application of the experience accumulated by 'old' EU countries as well as Western countries in CEE countries; opportunities for dissemination and application of Central and Eastern countries’ experience in other CIS countries; integration of scientific research elements into processes of studies, training and qualification improvement by networking and internationalisation, and the necessity to conduct and expand scientific researches in the sector of civil servants and public administration specialists, studies and professional development.

The work in the group in 2014 revealed several problems of international cooperation development in the area of civil servants’ training and suggested solutions to them. The results of WG 5 were determined by the main priorities of WG 5 for the year 2015: progressive experience of public administration studies and civil servants’ training accumulated in world practice, EU countries and other countries; new challenges, new opportunities and new teaching technologies which are to be taken into consideration under the conditions of EU enlargement and networking; analysis of the current situation; integration of scientific research elements into the processes of studies, training and qualification improvement by networking and internationalisation; development of internationalisation of public administration studies and civil servants’ training systems and implementation of long-term strategies, and the development and implementation of international programmes and projects.

VI. Working Group on Public Finance and Public Finance Management

WG Coordinators:

Juraj Nemec, Matej Bel University, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia

Lucie Sedmihradska, University of Economics in Prague, Czech Republic

The WG announced two tracks for this conference:

(1) Local government taxation: Tax autonomy versus tax competition and

(2) "Better” governmental spending as a reaction to the crisis.

We received six papers prepared according to the research protocol - three on local taxes and three on public procurement. We also accepted a range of papers focusing on other different public financial management and fiscal policy topics.

In the first section three papers were presented and substantially discussed dealing with tax competition and it was agreed to continue with this track for the next year. In the framework of the second track - public procurement - one overview paper and two country case studies were presented and a few members of the group expressed interest in this topic for next year’s conference.

The remainder of the sessions discussed a mix of papers on different public finance and public financial management topics, for example economic growth, size economies in delivery of local public services, efficiency of foreign loans, privatisation and many others. Based on the discussions, we plan to announce at least two specialised research tracks accompanied by a research protocol for the 2015 conference (local taxation and public procurement). The research protocols appeared to be a useful tool in previous years and not only for young scholars in the improvement of their research and preparation of their papers. At the same time, we announced a call for groups of scholars who would like to organise own sessions in the framework of the WG. It is requested that those interested submit a proposal to the WG coordinators by mid-June. The proposal should include a short description of the topic, major research questions and a list of interested participants. This sub-group is, of course, open, but it is better to announce it now to see if we have at least three confirmed participants.

VII. Working Group on Public Policy Analysis Development Issues

WG Coordinators:

Lesya Ilchenko-Syuyva, National Academy of Public Administration, Office of the President of Ukraine

Frans Jorna, Saxion University of Applied Sciences, Enschede, The Netherlands

The Working Group on Public Policy Analysis Issues continues its work under the umbrella of the NISPAcee Annual Conferences. This year the WG on PP received more than 20 applications in the area of the main fields of interest of the WG. Roughly, the following themes could be distinguished:

- Knowledge and information in policy analysis.

- Procedures of policy design and coordination.

- Evidence based policy analysis, development and implementation.

- Case studies of the application of techniques (e.g. stakeholder analysis, regulatory impact assessment, ex ante impact assessment, policy evaluation).

- Paths forward and problems in public policy capacity building.

- Public administration in ensuring good governance.

The Working Group still remained a forum for academics and practitioners to exchange experiences on how academics can meet the urgent needs of public servants in practice-oriented studies in preparing and promoting relevant policy advice, as well as in upgrading academic and training programmes in public policy analysis.

All in all, 12 papers were selected and actually completed for presentation during the conference meetings in Budapest. They were discussed in separate sessions. As not all presenters were able to come to Budapest, the number of sessions was limited to three sessions focused on:

- General Knowledge and information in policy analysis.

- Democratic Governance and Auditing.

- Implementation and Evaluation.

According to the results of the discussions, the WG decided to continue the work in the same format but with the accent on the practical application of the presented results. Co-authored papers written by academics and practitioners are highly encouraged for the next annual conference.

VIII. Working Group on Public Administration Education

WG Coordinators:

Calin Hintea, Babes Bolyai University, Romania

Roger Hamlin, Michigan State University, USA

The Working Group held four sessions at the 20th Annual NISPAcee conference in Budapest, Hungary. A total of 10 papers were presented in English. All papers had a great deal to offer the NISPAcee community and advanced the understanding of Public Administration education in Central and Eastern Europe.

Those who presented papers came from eight countries - Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, the Russian Federation, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom. They represented eight different universities and institutes. The coordinators were from Romania and the USA.

In general, about 20 people attended the working group sessions. Several active working group members came to all sessions and participated in all the discussions. In addition to the countries and universities represented by the paper presenters, there were also participants from international organisations such as EAPPA and NAPAA. The president of NAPAA in the US attended all sessions.

The working group began with a full session discussion of the preliminary findings of EAPPA’s long-term evaluation of accreditation in CEE.

Almost all working group sessions discussed the aspects of the competencies required by public administration graduates in CEE. Two papers discussed general competencies; one paper covered the topic of teaching English to PA students in Russia and how that leads to a more general discussion of PA competencies. Another paper looked at comprehensive HR Development in public administration. Another looked specifically at the training of future public administrators in information security issues, a growing area of required competence. Another paper looked at the subject from the point of view of employer branding and yet another paper provided a thorough research effort to evaluate PA education from the point of view of the student.

The preliminary conclusions of the working group’s discussions were that much more needs to be done to comprehensively define the competency needs of public administrators, keep competencies up-to-date, and integrate that discussion into the accreditation process to make accreditation more competency-based.

For next year’s conference, the working group would like to define and discuss the most critical issues facing public administration education over the next 10 years. We may invite specific individuals to write some of the papers.

IX. Working Group on Local Public Policies

WG Coordinators:

Daniel Klimovsky, Technical University of Košice, Slovakia,

Franco Becchis, Turin School of Local Regulation, Italy

The Working Group on Local Public Policies was only established in 2013. Generally, the working group intends to focus on the issue of the regulation of local services – e.g. waste, water, transport, local energy networks, public assets, sports facilities, welfare policies – and their delivery in CEE countries where the transition from the planned economy has set strange challenges to the relationship between local governments and markets.

The working group organised four sessions within the programme of the 22nd NISPAcee Annual Conference. In total, 13 papers were presented during the working group's sessions. Authors of those papers dealt with different issues linked to local policy making. The presentations were grouped into three sessions according to their main focus:

1) Institutions, actors, incentives framing local public policies: instruments for analysis and practical case studies.

2) Inter-municipal cooperation and resulting governance issues.

3) Governance of local public budget.

Whilst some authors dealt with structural and capacity issues of local services regulation, certain others dealt with quality issues. Some common features emerged from the various presentations, namely: the importance of the local dimension in policy implementation; the need of increasing capacities of local institutions; the importance of trust as the "fuel” for local public policy implementation and to establish fruitful relationships between local actors. Discussions that followed the paper presentations were fruitful, and led to new perspectives as well as potential interpretations of presented data. This point is very important in terms of sustainability of the working group and the cooperation between its members.

X. Working Group on Good Governance

WG Coordinators:

Tetyana Malyarenko, Donetsk State University of Management, Ukraine

Focused on the links between good governance and the human rights based approach to development in countries of Central and Eastern Europe and post-soviet countries, the participants of the Working Group discussed both the theoretical and practical issues of public administration under transition. Whereas some presenters analysed state-building and the constitutional/public administration reforms in newly independent states through the framework of implementation of the principles of human rights and good governance, other presenters contributed to empirical research and comparative analysis of good governance in public management organisations at the local and national levels and, in particular, in the justice system. This variety of research interests of the WG participants allowed us to explore the many notions of justice, the importance and role of justice in state building, and conflict prevention, as well as the functions of the key players involved in providing justice. The Working Group participants came from academia, civil society and policy community of countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and Afghanistan.

XI. Working Group on Transition, Change and Uncertainty

WG Coordinators:

György Gajduschek, Corvinus University, Budapest, Hungary

Eva Zemandl, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary

The 2014 NISPAcee conference in Budapest provided the occasion to inaugurate the Working Group XI on Transition, Change and Uncertainty. This new working group deals with the often unpredictable nature of the CEE/FIS transitional context. It explores the consequences of large-scale changes and prolonged uncertainty (i.e. in a political, economic, and systemic sense, etc.) in CEE/FIS countries on administrative behaviour and, thus, on the wider governance environment. The working group convened during two sessions on Friday, May 23rd. Sessions featured papers presented by participants from Bulgaria, Hungary, Russia, and Afghanistan, covering key cross-cutting areas of research including the role of "governance” and "network” paradigms in CEE/FIS and civil society-government relations. Three of the papers also dealt with policy sector reforms in education and economy.

The discussion periods—running from 30 to 40 minutes each—generated a great deal of lively debate and information exchange. With regard to the working group’s key themes of change and uncertainty, participants raised and debated the following questions: What is uncertainty? If we are always surrounded by uncertainty anyway, is it really a matter of concern? How much uncertainty can one society tolerate? What are the paradigms for dealing with uncertainty? In response to the last question, one presenter promoted the notion of "strategic governance” and proposed that a panel be devoted to this topic at next year’s NISPAcee conference. Another participant floated the notion of a "search for a national idea” as a way to address uncertainty during phases of transition. There was another extensive debate concerning the role of civil society in Russia and FIS countries, as well as information being exchanged about the nature of civil society-government relations in different countries. More generally, participants also debated the importance of western governance paradigms and participation in the consolidation of CEE/FIS societies and political systems.

The remainder of the report is structured as follows: the second section presents the premise and key aims of the working group; the third section maps out the main points and common threads raised in the papers with regard to each of the working group’s four questions, and the last section proposes an agenda for advancing the working group in the framework of the 2015 NISPAcee conference.

The working group focuses on the following four questions:

· What are the large-scale changes prolonging uncertainty in CEE? What are the causes?

· What are the behavioural implications of frequent change and prolonged uncertainty on administrative personnel and leadership in CEE/FIS public organisations? What are the effects on administrative behaviour, culture, and ethos?

· Are large-scale changes and prolonged uncertainty compatible with the implementation of different governing models (e.g., Weberian, NPM, governance, etc. etc.)? Is change necessarily undesirable?

· If and when deemed necessary, how can organisations foster internal stability in a climate of sustained uncertainty? What best practices exist in the region?

In general, the identified sources of prolonged uncertainty in the CEE/FIS context can be whittled down to the following overarching themes—each presenting an opportunity for further exploration within the NISPAcee framework: unresolved issues concerning fundamental political, societal, and institutional systems and structures, lack of continuity and maturity of reforms, short-termism, lack of political consensus and long-term strategising, radicalisation, lack of trust (political and societal), conflict (political, societal), radicalisation, and low government capacity. Many of the identified themes included short-termism, lack of continuity and long-term strategising, lack of trust, and conflict. In general, the papers and subsequent discussions recognised the merits of western models (e.g., Weberian public administration, governance), but also highlighted the incompatibility between the political and social institutional reality on the ground and the wholesale implementation of these models.

XII. Working Group on Administration and Management of Internal Security Agencies

WG Coordinators:

Sander Pollumae, Ministry of Justice of Estonia, Tallinn, Estonia

Gabor Kovacs, National University of Public Service, Budapest, Hungary

The NISPAcee Working Group on Administration and Management of Internal Security Agencies was founded during the 20th NISPAcee annual conference with the aim to bring together researchers and practitioners of different areas of internal security (police, prison and other agencies). The need for such a working group emanated from the lack of such a forum and the importance of the field. After a short introductory period this WG has been revived this year due to the initiative of the National University of Public Service (NUPS), Budapest. Despite the very short organisational timeframe, the topics covered by this WG met the interests of many paper-applicants, becoming one of the "largest” WG’s with 22 papers presented during the three days by Estonian, Slovenian and Hungarian experts.

The presenters – representing mostly the Faculty of Law Enforcement and the Institution of Disaster Management of NUPS – analysed the WG topic in strategic, institutional, legislative and executive aspects pointing out the successful results and also the difficulties of this area. For example, in an overview of the recovery system of natural disasters, István Endrődi introduced the possibilities of using ICT and embracing civil society into the management of civil society; the main objectives and pillars of the European Internal Security Strategy; the role of the border-state of the Schengen Area; the psychological effects of extreme weather conditions and the use of the CAF model in the Slovenian Police Service. Besides introducing the status quo in this field, presenters highlighted the trends, possible future perspectives and obstacles, and also the main goals of this area.

The Estonian and Hungarian WG coordinators, working in cooperation, have found the work and the outcome of the WG successful, effective and beneficial "producing” some added value in the analysed field. Considering immigration issues as the main focus for next year and the possibility of contracting out tasks of internal security agencies as the main topic, the coordinators of the working group decided that the working group should continue and that it is able to contribute to the next annual conference. Therefore, the coordinators plan to organise this WG again next year in Georgia, with the hope of being able to cover more heterogeneous issues, presented by a more international, multicultural expert network representing more countries.

The main goal of the WG coordinators is to create an international expert network in this field as a platform for further (joint) research, exchange of information and best practices in this special field.

The conference programme consisted of following Panel Sessions which enriched the programme of the conference with new information, new initiatives and new opportunities for collaboration with external organisations as well as within NISPAcee:

- Panel: Max Weber and Public Policy Today.

- Joint ASPA-NASPAA-NISPAcee Study Group on Cutback Management.

- Governance of Territories and Regional Development: Best Concept and Practices.

- EAPAA Information Panel on the Accreditation of Public Administration Programmes.

- ASPA Panel: Interest Groups, Public Protest and the Shaping of Public Policy

- Projects Relevant for the Region.

- Islamic Public Administration.

- The Next Innovation Frontier in Public Service Education.

- New Strategies of Public Governance for Changing Societies: a China-Hungary Comparative Approach.

- 25 years of change: Evaluating the Hungarian development path.

- Politisation or Political Control of Bureaucracy: Where should we draw the Line?

Colloquium for Practitioners

Coordinator:

Michiel de Vries, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

The colloquium consisted of two sessions. In the first session, public-private relations were discussed and during the second, the difficulties of administrative reform. The goal of both sessions was not to discuss papers, but to discuss the topics as such. This proved to be very interesting and all participants were enthusiastic about the approach. During both sessions there were a large number of participants who enjoyed the idea of discussing the topical themes instead of scholarly papers.

One of the peculiarities of the colloquium was that although the sessions were primarily meant for practitioners, the majority of the attendants were academicians. This was, of course, in accordance with the small number of practitioners attending the conference as a whole, but nevertheless something might be done to attract more practitioners to this colloquium next year, if it continues. One of the ideas is to have an extra session in which the winners of the EPSA award present what they did in order to receive that award and to discuss these practices.

The NISPAcee Business Meeting was also, as usual, on the conference programme. The annual reports (activities, finances) and future plans were presented to representatives of the NISPAcee members and other participating guests.

Since the NISPAcee President, Mirko Vintar, completed his elected period, the Steering Committee elected a new president from members of the Committee – Marius Profiroiu.

NISPAcee Awards

During the 22nd NISPAcee conference, the following awards were presented:

The Alena Brunovska Award for Teaching Excellence in Public Administration was given to Prof. Rainer Kattel, Professor of Innovation Policy and Technology Governance and Head of the Programme at the Ragnar Nurkse School of Innovation and Governance, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia.

The NISPAcee Merit Awards were presented to Prof. Michiel de Vries, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, for his substantial support and contribution toNISPAcee's development.

The Mzia Mikeladze PhD Thesis Award was presented toKülli Sarapuu, Ragnar Nurkse School of Innovation and Governance, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia for the PhD thesis "Mapping and Explaining Post-Communist Development of Administrative Structure: The Case of the Estonian Public Administration 1990-2010".

The Best Comparative Paper presented at the Conferencewas presented to the winners of two papers:

Riin Savi, Aleksandrs Cepilov, Ragnar Nurkse School of Innovation and Governance, Tallinn University of Technology for the paper "The Role of Agencies and Street-Level Bureaucrats in Cutback Management: Comparing the Cases of Estonia and Latvia” and

Walter Kickert, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Tiina Randma-Liiv, Riin Savi, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia for the paper "Politics of Fiscal Consolidation in Europe: A Comparative Analysis”.

The Award for "NISPAcee’s Best Graduate Student Paper” was presented to the winner Ms. Palina Prysmakova, Florida International University, Miami, USA for the paper

"Chinese Loans for Infrastructure Projects in Developing Countries: The Connection between Short-Term Payoffs to the Chinese Local Governments and Long-Term Obligations of the Belarusian Nation”.