Prof. Emeritus ANTONIS MAKRIDIMITRIS & Asst. Prof. MARIA-ELIANA PRAVITA

Course description

Main goal of the course is to critically examine and delve with the students into basic institutional structures and practices in the domain of public administration. Object of the classes is the in-depth analysis of the role of public administration in social and economic configuration, the most important activities and functions undertaken and exercised in the public sphere, the contribution of the administrative sector in the system of governance, the effects and the policies that are designed and implemented, as well as the new methodology of managing public services and organizations – known as new public management – that is appropriate to their nature and mission. Accordingly, there are examined the preconditions for effective, but also qualitative (including morality and legality) administrative action in the national context and with regard to other nations.

The course aims at:

• the underlying of the most basic aspects in the structure and functioning of the administrative system of the country
• the familiarization of the students with modern tendencies in the study and the practice in the field of public administration.

Contents of the course

• Alliance governments and co-ordination of the government
• Public policy of better regulation
• Overview on local government: legal provision and administrative practice
• Mediatory institutions at the local domain
• The principle of meritocracy and the composition of the personnel of public administration
• Appointment of managers in the public service: professionalism vs. politicisation
• Modern standards and models of managing in the public sector
• Process of control of public administration, and compliance
• Limits of the public sector under conditions of fiscal scarcity and social justice
• Administrative convergence in the European administrative space

Learning outcomes

Having completed the class students are expected to:

• be familiar with the significant features of the Greek political and administrative system
• comprehend the importance of the centre of government for the coherence of governmental action
• appreciate the role of the Administration in the framework of regulatory governance, the design and implementation of public policy
• be in a position to examine thoroughly the deficiencies in the staffing and functioning of the administrative mechanism in the country, to evaluate them, to explain the deficits in the implementation in the exercise of public policy, as well as propose options and well based plans for meeting them.