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ARMENIA |
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ARMENIA |
HISTORICAL FRAMEWORK
Public administration as an independent subject is new in Armenia, and its introduction is directly connected to the 1991 proclamation of independence and the founding of the Armenian School of Public Administration in 1994.
One of the oldest countries in the world (the first written notices about Armenia date from the third millennium BC), Armenia nevertheless lacked an independent state for many years. Before the fourteenth century, there were some universities in Armenia that provided a high level of education for that period. Mongol-Tatars and then the Turks conquered Armenia and destroyed both state and medieval universities. Therefore, until 1920, mainly primary schools and a few religious institutions of higher education survived in the territory.
Armenia gained its independence in 1918, and the first Armenian Republic was founded (1918-1920). Those years were challenging: Armenians suffered genocide and lost most of their historical motherland. The newly independent republic fought against Turkey, which did not accept Armenia’s independence. Despite these hardships, Yerevan State University (YSU) was founded in 1919.
The Socialist Revolution of 1920 led to the formation of the Second Armenian Republic, which later joined the USSR, and Armenian education became part of the Soviet educational system, which did not include public administration as a separate academic program. Rather, public administration was included in law and economics programmes. Yerevan State University’s Faculty of Law and Economics was established in 1922. In 1933, it was divided into two separate faculties, the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Economics. Administrative law, the management of state enterprises and budgeting were taught in institutions where public administration was taught. Political issues of public administration were deemed to be the prerogative of the communist party and were taught on a limited basis in higher party schools.
In 1991, Armenia again became independent, and the Third Armenian Republic was formed. As a result of the massive social, political and economic challenges confronting the country, it was important to organise a new system of public administration and to ensure training, retraining and the in-service training for civil servants. The School of Public Administration (ASPA) was established for these reasons and offers public administration as an independent educational program, including specialised training in “public administration and local self-government.”
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