 |
LITHUANIA |
|
LITHUANIA |
HISTORICAL FRAMEWORK
Development of Public Administration as An Academic Field of Study in Lithuania
Public administration was largely developed as a separate branch of study in the last decade. However, subjects related to public administration were taught during the first period of Lithuania's independence. At that time, management, finance, etc. were taught at Kaunas University (renamed Vytautas Magnus University in 1930). The first Lithuanian book on public administration, Principles of Administration, was published as far back as 1926. The author, P. V. Raulinaitis, lectured at Kaunas University and the Academy of Agriculture. Important stimulus for developing management and public administration in Lithuania came in 1935, when a prominent theoretician in the field of management, A. Graičiunas, returned from the United States. His earlier publications were well received in Lithuania and were discussed not only in the academic community, but also by the general public. The contributions of the Scientific Society of Management, established in 1938, were and are also important to the development of the field. Other public administration publications during these period include P. Lesauskis's Origins of Organisation, Importance of a Leader in an Organisation, and Lectures on the Organisation of Administration.”
During the Soviet period, there were no academic programmes in public administration at the higher schools, in Lithuania or in the rest of the Soviet Union. However, individual courses related to public administration were taught in some higher schools. While reorganising the system of state governance and administration after Lithuanian proclaimed its independence, the lack of qualified public servants came to light. This complicated the activity of institutions of public administration and hindered the implementation of modern methods of government. As a result, the development of academic PA programmes became important for continuing the development of the country’s democratic government and in preparing for European Union membership.
The first public administration (PA) programme in Lithuania was started in as a master's programme (MPA) in the Faculty of Administration of the Kaunas University of Technology. The program was initiated by Professor E. Jasaitis, who had earned a PhD in public administration in the United States and understood the importance of the field for the development of a democratic state government. In 1995, the Department of Public Administration was established in the Faculty of Administration.
In 1994, both master's and bachelor's programmes were designed at the Kaunas University of Technology, but as previously stated, only the master's programme was implemented at that time. The bachelor's programme was started in September 1999. In April 1997, an agreement on a joint doctoral programme in public administration was signed between the Kaunas University of Technology and Hamline University (USA), and the first students were admitted for doctoral studies in the field of management and public administration that same year. A strategy for obtaining alumni commentary on the program is in preparation.
Recently, additional PA programmes have been developed in other Lithuanian universities. In 1998, an MPA programme was started by the Institute of International
Relations and Political Science, Vilnius University, and a bachelor's programme was started at Vytautas Magnus University (Kaunas). In 1999, the Law Academy of Lithuania also began bachelor's and master's programmes in PA as well.
[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Introduction ] [ Part 1 ] [ Part 2 ] [ Part 3 ] [ Part 4 ] [ Part 5 ] [ Part 6 ] [ Part 7 ] [ Part 8 ] [ Part 9 ] [ Annexes ]
