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LATVIA |
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LATVIA |
RESEARCH
1. Overview
The main research priorities of the University of Latvia and the Latvian Agriculture University in the field of public administration are reform needs in the areas of the state administration, civil service, local government and administrative territories. In addition, the Department of Public Administration of the University of Latvia is involved in research on:
- the development of personnel management and project management in public administration;
- central and local government relations;
- the social and economical backgrounds of administrative territorial reform;
- distributing functions among central, regional, and local governments;
- the development of territorial statistics;
- democracy and local government.
The main research priorities of the Latvian University of Agriculture’s Faculty of Economics are the quality of living, the creation of new jobs during the economic transformation process and the optimal population density. In addition, the University of Latvia’s Departments of Public Administration conducts research in the field.
Another non-university institution undertaking public administration research is Ratio Legis, a non-governmental organisation headed by President Professor, Dr. Edgars Melkisis. In 1998, Ratio Legis prepared a paper entitled “Analysis of the System of State Administration of Republic of Latvia in the Context of Integration” under an agreement with the Public Administration Reform Bureau. Ratio Legis’s main goal is to improve the legal expertise of civil servants and other employees of state and local government institutions. To achieve this, the NGO regularly consults civil servants, designs training programmes, prepares methodological materials, drafts legal norms, etc.
2. The European and Comparative Dimension in Public Administration Research
The European and comparative dimension in public administration research is primarily pursued by the Department of Public Administration of the University of Latvia. In 1998, Professor Dr. Edvins Vanags, Head of Department, and Associate Professor Dr. Inesa Voronchuk participated in an evaluation of PHARE public administration reform programmes resulting in a report entitled “An Evaluation of PHARE Public Administration Reform Programmes” was put together in cooperation with the Office of International Policy Services (IPS, United Kingdom), MEDE (the Netherlands), Helsinki University Knowledge Services (Finland), and local experts from Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, and Slovakia. This report was provided to the Evaluation Unit of the Joint Relex Service (SCR) of the European Commission.
In 1997 and 1998, Professor Dr. Edvins Vanags participated as an independent expert a working group on “Monitoring the Implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government” organised by the Council of Europe and prepared three papers:
- “Reply to the Questionnaire on the Financial Resources of Local Authorities in Latvia in Relation to their Competencies,” Strasbourg: Council of Europe, May 22-23, 1997.
- “Reply to the Questionnaire on the Responsibilities of Local Authorities, Strasbourg: Council of Europe,” October 13-14, 1997.
- “Reply to the Second Questionnaire on the Responsibilities of Local Authorities,” Strasbourg: Council of Europe, October 26-27, 1998.
In 1998, the University of Latvia’s Department of Public Administration conducted research on “Regional Economic Development in the States of the European Union and Possibilities for the Use of this Experience in Latvia” under the direction of Dr. Edvins Vanags. In 1998, Dr. Vanags and Mrs. Inga Vilka issued another paper entitled “Local Governments in Latvia” for an anthology of descriptive papers, Local Governments in the CEE, 1999, being prepared by the Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative of the Open Society Institute, Budapest, Hungary.
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