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LITHUANIA |
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LITHUANIA |
POSITIONING ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN RELATION TO THE DISCIPLINES TO WHICH THEY ARE MOST CLOSELY RELATED
All Lithuanian PA programmes were established on an interdisciplinary basis, but they differ slightly from one another in terms of focus. A detailed analysis of the specific features of the individual PA programmes can be found below.
Kaunas University of Technology
Both bachelor's and master's PA programmes are oriented towards general public administration, and there is no single dominant academic discipline at this time. Courses are generally more related to management and administrative theory than to political science. Responsibility for the courses has been assigned to the branch of management and administration within the field of social sciences.
For the first four semesters, bachelor’s students study general social courses, the humanities and basic courses in management and administration. The remaining four semesters are dedicated to the major. In their first two years, all students study management, micro and macroeconomics, social statistics and other general required courses. During the third and fourth semesters, bachelor’s students must take introductory social sciences courses such as Introduction to Government, Information Systems and Analysis of Social Data, and Fundamentals of Constitutional Law.
The majority of courses taught during the following semesters are the basics of public administration. They are primarily theoretical (e.g., Introduction to Public Policy and Analysis, Introduction to Public Organisation Theories, Quantitative and Qualitative Methods in Social Research) and related to the practice of public administration (e.g., Systems of State Governance and Administration, Principles and Administration of Local Government, and Introduction to Urban Planning and Development). General courses such as Administrative Law, Labour Law, Introduction to European Integration and Environment, Society and Technology can be pursued during these semesters.
The bachelor's programme in PA requires the completion of one hundred and sixty credits, with one credit equal to forty hours of student work (in lectures, independent study, etc.). General social science and courses humanities form approximately fifteent percent of the programme, general courses in management and administration comprise approximately forty-five percent, and courses focused on professional PA theory and practice are about forty percent of the total volume.
The master's programme requires eighty credits. General subjects in management and administration comprise approximately ten percent of the curriculum and are focused on professional theory and practice in PA (including the preparation of a master's thesis and four credits of research studies each semester) form about ninety percent of the volume of studies. The fourth semester is entirely devoted to preparing the master's thesis. The following groups of courses are generally taught in KTU’s master's programme in public administration:
- theories of PA;
- courses related to the structures of management and administration and the analysis of their work;
- general courses in management and administration.
Obligatory courses in public administration theories include Principles of Public Administration and Comparative Analysis, Public Policy and Analysis, Public Organisation Theories and Ethics in Public Administration. Both obligatory and alternative courses are offered in the block related to management and administration structures and the analysis of their functions. Mandatory courses in this group include Intergovernmental Relations and Strategic Planning in Public Institutions. Elective courses include Information Systems of Management and Administration, Computer-based Project Management in Public Administration and Management of Financial Institutions. The block of general courses in management and administration include mandatory courses (e.g., Human Resource Management) and elective courses (e.g., Leadership, Urban Planning and Development).
Doctoral students must study several areas in depth and pass at least five examinations before beginning to prepare their dissertations. Doctoral students in public administration pursue at least one course in the field of management and administration, no fewer than three courses in public administration and at least one elective in another social science. At present, all PA doctoral students must take courses and pass examinations in Classic and Modern Theories of Management and Organisation, Current Issues in Public Administration, Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods in Public Administration. An elective in public administration and one or more courses in another social science are also required. Recommended courses include the Organisational and Legal Basis of the European Union and Comparative Public Policy Analysis, a course that concentrates on public administration in European states.
Vilnius University
Vilnius University’s master's program in public administration is closely connected to political science. The programme was initially derived from political science, which still remains dominant. The total volume of studies is eighty credits, and courses directly related to the practice of public administration form approximately half of the coursework. One-third of the courses proposed in the MPA are common with the MA programme in comparative politics and international relations. Four credits are allotted during the third and seventeen credits during the fourth semester for preparing a master's thesis. The programme consists of four modules:
Table 2: Mandatory and Elective Courses, MA in Public Administration, Vilnius University
- Theory and Methodology of PA;
- Public Economy, Finance and Management;
- Public Administration and Law;
- Policy Analysis.
Module
Mandatory Courses
Elective Courses
Theory and Methodology of PA
Theories of Public Administration I and II;
Public Policy and Public Choice;
Social StatisticsTheories of Public Administration II
Public Economy, Finance, and Management
Public Economy and Finance;
Macroeconomic Policy AnalysisEconomic Transformation in CEE Countries;
Interest Groups and Governmental Policy;
Urban and Regional Planning;
Human Resources;
Management and Professional Skills;
Organisation and Management of InformationPublic Administration and Law
Comparative Public Law
Administrative Law;
Labour Law;
Sociology of Law;
Non-profit Organisations;
Comparative Local GovernmentPolicy Analysis
Industrial Policy
Policy Analysis Self-Studies
Vytautas Magnus University
Vytautas Magnus University’s BA programme in public administration is multidisciplinary without a clearly expressed focus. Four autonomous groups of law, economics, political science, and sociology courses are weakly interrelated in order to form the program.
For the first four semesters, bachelor’s PA students take courses in the humanities, social sciences, arts, natural sciences and languages with all other first and second year students of the university. They must complete the following social science courses during the first two years: Introduction to Political Science, Introduction to Sociology, Social Psychology, Introduction to Political Philosophy, Lithuanian Political System and Political Traditions, Introduction to Management, Introduction to International Relation and Introduction to Economics.
During the following semesters, six of the sixteen obligatory courses are related to the practice of public administration: Theories of Public Administration, Local Government Policy in the EU and Lithuania, Strategic Management of State Institutions, Lithuania's Infrastructure and Management, Finance of Public Institutions, Personnel Management and Ethics of Officials. Other courses offer analysis of issues in politics, economics, law and management. The legal studies element is slightly more focused and includes Labour and Administrative Law, European Union Law and Economic and Commercial Law. Other branches have one course per discipline, including Macroeconomics, Fundamentals of Marketing, Management Decisions, Organisational Psychology and Communication Systems.
Law Academy of Lithuania
LTA’s PA programmes are oriented towards legal studies. Within the bachelor's programme in PA, courses in the humanities and social sciences comprise nineteen percent of the total volume of studies; courses in the general fundamental subjects of management and administration form thirty-one percent, and fifty percent are orientated towards PA. The following courses are directly focused on professional theory and the practice of public administration: Systems of Public Administration, Demography, Management Information Systems, Office Administration, Finance and Budget Management.
This programme differs from those at other universities in the number and focus of law-related courses. There are eleven courses in various branches of law, and these form almost twenty percent of all classes. These courses are: Theory of Law, Lithuanian Constitutional Law, Civil Law, Administrative Law, Civil Process, Fundamentals of Criminal Responsibility, Finance and Tax Law, International Public Law, Labour Law and Institutional Law of the European Union.
Legal courses also prevail in the MPA programme, where six of nineteen courses are focused on legal issues. These include Drafting Legislation, Administrative Responsibility, Criminology, Legal Aspects of Relations between Lithuania and the European Union, Constitutional Status of an Individual and the Rule-of-Law State. The number of legal courses is comparable to the number of courses related to theoretical issues and the practice of public administration. These include Theories of Management and Public Administration, Decision-Making Theory, Office Administration, Information Technologies in Management and Tax Administration. In addition, the programme offers some humanities and social sciences courses: Modern Philosophy, Fields of Social Tensions in Lithuania and Social Marketing.
It should be noted that all Lithuanian PA programmes are based on an interdisciplinary format. The programmes do, however, place different emphasis on particular groups of courses. The KTU PA program emphasises the administrative and managerial aspects of public administration; in the VU program, political science is the dominant discipline; at VDU, economics and law are somewhat stronger than other disciplines; and at LTA, the legal discipline is dominant. These programmes are all still developing, and it is not clear how they might be modified after their success is gauged by the experience of alumni in the labour market.
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