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BULGARIA |
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BULGARIA |
POSITIONING ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN RELATION TO THE DISCIPLINES TO WHICH THEY ARE MOST CLOSELY RELATED
Economics Academy Dimitar Tzenov, Svishtov
Faculty of Management and Marketing, Programme in Public Administration
This curriculum meets the state requirements for PA and is, therefore, relatively balanced at its initial levels as far as the different disciplines (law, economics, etc.) are concerned. However, it tends to be strongly influenced by economics and business studies at the specialisation levels. The master’s programme, still entitled Management of Territorial Systems, is more interdisciplinary than the BA programme and meets the general requirements for the PA discipline. Thus, perhaps it does not need significant change, other than introducing at least two more courses related to the EU.
Gabrovo Technical University
Faculty of Engineering and Business, BA in Public Administration Programme
The curriculum of the BA programme in public administration is heavily influenced by business administration. Most of the subjects taught beyond the state requirements (the latter being strictly represented in the curriculum) are compulsory business subjects.
New Bulgarian University
Master’s Faculty, State Administration Programme
The programme in state administration at the Master’s Faculty of the New Bulgarian University was established independently and, therefore, it is not dependent on any other programme. It is interdisciplinary in its spirit and structure and governance-related subjects are given priority. In this sense, the NBU PA programme somewhat “violates” the state requirements (the latter were adopted after the NBU’s PA programme was founded) in that less weight is given to law and economics courses than in other universities. Hopefully, this will not harm this programme’s forthcoming accreditation review.
Southwestern University Neofit Rilski
Faculty of Law, Joint BA-MA Programme in Public Administration
The joint BA-MA programme in public administration resulted from the merger of two departments, Public and Business Administration and Taxation Administration. Business studies remain dominant, although the PA curriculum was developed in accordance with the state requirements, which presupposes some balance between business and law. Almost no governance-related subjects are included in this curriculum (whether compulsory or elective) beyond the minimum required by the state. There is no indication that the programme will become more balanced in the future. The teaching faculty consists mainly of economists and less by law professors, and the university has difficulties recruiting outside educators.
University of National and World Economy
Faculty of Economics of the Infrastructure, Joint BA-MA Programme in Public Administration
This programme inherited a similar managerial programme at the same faculty. Its curriculum strictly follows the Bulgarian state requirements for PA and is, therefore, interdisciplinary at the foundation level. Given the heritage of the former programme, the location of the PA programme in the university structure and the scholarly background of the instructors, both the BA and the MPA programmes are more economics-oriented, particularly in the final years of studies and elective courses. Still, this trend is not as strong as it might be, and it could be much stronger if those who created the curriculum were not aware of the interdisciplinary character of PA.
University of Plovdiv Paissi Hilendarski
Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences, MA Programme in Public Administration
This programme is relatively new and started as a preliminary project in early 1999. It resulted from a TEMPUS project involving Sofia University, which sought to create MPA programmes in Bulgaria. The fact that the curriculum was developed in cooperation with Sofia University and European partners from four countries contributed to a well-balanced curriculum. It also partially corresponds to the state requirements for PA. Students are recruited from undergraduate (baccalaureate) studies in two fields: economics and political science. In this sense, governance-related subjects are well represented. Faculty of various academic backgrounds are involved in the educational process.
University of Sofia St. Kliment Ohridski
Faculty of Philosophy/Social Science, Department of Public Administration
The undergraduate (BPA) and graduate (MPA) public administration programmes were established on a purely interdisciplinary basis and did not evolve from any other discipline at the university. On the contrary, they emerged in the context of an existing rivalry between faculties, schools and departments over which of them would found a P programme. Although the founders of these programmes belonged to other university schools by necessity, they invited European and American experts to assist with curriculum development. The current department of PA consists of faculty with various backgrounds, including law, economics and sociology. The curricula are relatively well balanced and place no stress on any particular aspect of PA, i.e., there is no dominant discipline. As much weight is given to courses concerned with governance (as opposed to courses approaching PA from the viewpoint of other disciplines) as the Bulgarian state requirements for PA allow (see Annex 2).
University of Sofia St. Kliment Ohridski
Faculty of Law
The specialisation in public administration at the law school is not an autonomous PA programme per se. Rather, it is part of the law programme and, thus, was not established on an interdisciplinary basis. Legal subjects dominate the curriculum, which consists of over twenty subjects, and students pursuing the specialisation in PA are required to freely select ten subjects from the list. Only two or three subjects are related to political science or economics, and courses concerned with governance are underrepresented. There is no indication that this trend will change in the future, especially considering the fact that another faculty of the university teaches PA.
Varna Free University
Faculty of Administration, Political Science and International Relations
Varna Free University opened a BA programme in public administration before the state requirements for the discipline were developed. However, the faculty radically changed the curriculum two years ago in order to receive accreditation, and it is now structured to meet the state requirements. Given the available teaching staff, the curriculum retained elements of its original form in terms of its electives. Thus, the curriculum is balanced but contains a slight emphasis on political science courses as the teaching staff comes mainly from the pre-1989 administrative-political academies. Business administration influences the curriculum to a negligible degree. It is interesting that some elements of the state requirements (law and economics) have been broken down into more specialised courses, e.g., the state-required economics field is divided into “economic theories,” “microeconomics” and “macroeconomics.” This same approach is utilised by Sofia University in order to create more balance in the overall programme.
Varna Technical University
Faculty of Law
Local professors of law and prominent law professors from Sofia University created Varna Technical University’s public administration programme. The curriculum strictly follows the state requirements, and the latter form the basic level of courses. However, even at this stage, law-related subjects are over-represented, with more contact hours than required by the government. In addition, the curriculum is clearly dominated by law-related courses at the specialisation level, i.e., the third and fourth years of the BA level and the fifth year of the MPA.
Varna Technical University
Centre for Public Administration in Sliven
The BA programme of PA at the Centre for Public Administration reportedly meets the state requirements for the baccalaureate level of PA and is strongly influenced by law-related subjects. At the same time, the MA programme of PA offered by this institution is significantly closer to business administration according to several of the centre’s key lecturers. Unfortunately, the head of the centre declined to provide the curriculum, and further comments are impossible at this stage.
Conclusions
The development and delivery of PA programmes in Bulgaria have been strongly influenced by (a) the Bulgarian state requirements and other legal regulations regarding the discipline, and (b) the specialities of the school where particular PA programmes were institutionalised.
The first of these factors, the Bulgarian state requirements (see Annexes 2 and 3), reinforces a mechanically interdisciplinary structure for all Bulgarian PA curricula. “Mechanical” in this context refers to a more or less eclectic mixture of law and economics-related subjects, which dominate over governance-related courses. However, this feature of the state requirements fosters an interdisciplinary approach by pressing universities to consider different segments of a normal PA education. If these regulations did not exist, the different schools in which PA programmes emerged would most probably develop curricula much closer to their own character. Still, seventy-five percent of the Bulgarian state requirements for PA coincide with those for business administration. Moreover, public administration was first developed in economics and business schools in Bulgaria. Thus, economists have the strongest voice in the formation or change of the requirements for PA. As a result of these factors, public administration was placed in the state registrar of officially approved disciplines together with business administration, in the “management” category, under the general heading of “economics.” Alternatively, it could have been placed together with political science under “social sciences,” or with law under “law.”
The second factor, namely the profile of the particular school in which the PA programme operates, influences both specialisations and electives. Almost all PA programmes in law schools bear a strong legal studies character, while PA programmes in business and economics schools are clearly dominated by those disciplines. There are, however, a few exceptions. Sofia University and the New Bulgarian University PA programmes (both housed in faculties other than law or economics) are purely interdisciplinary and stress governance-related courses as much as the state requirements allow. This is partially true for the PA programmes of the University of National and World Economy and the Varna Free University. In these universities, the PA curricula are also balanced and are not heavily dominated by any non-governance discipline such as law or economics. At the UNWE, this may be the result of the fact that one of the founders of the school, Prof. L. Georgiev, was also the founder of New Bulgarian University’s PA programme. Varna Free University’s PA programme is well situated in an interdisciplinary faculty, and its founder, Prof. O. Panov, has had decades of experience in developing curricula in PA-related fields.
The future development of PA curricula in Bulgaria, future changes in the state requirements and the recruitment of staff, etc. will be strongly influenced by economists who happen to control the PA field in Bulgaria.
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