engleski

Public Administration Education in Croatia - Approaching Adulthood?

After the disintegration of socialism majority of countries in transition established the education systems for the future civil and public servants, as well as different models of education and in-service training. The authors are researching the situation with education for public servants in Croatia from the beginning of the 1990s when Croatia acquired its independence from Yugoslavia. The paper offers the overview of existing public administration programs in Croatia, which authors compared in terms of offered level of education, curricula, number of students and status of each educational institution. Comparative situation in the countries of the Ex-Yugoslavia is taken into account, since they all has the same historical conditions, as well as other western and eastern European countries which have historical, geographical and cultural similarity with Croatia. Analyzing current education system in Croatia, authors conclude that is necessary to introduce improvements because Croatia does not have an integrated, vertical system of administrative education. Public administration education programs in Croatia were traditionally and in large extend still remain institutionally linked with legal studies and the faculties of law, and normative approach is predominate in administrative practice. But contemporary social processes and global competition, as well as transformation of values and goals of the traditional administrative systems, demands more complex approach to modern public administration. This paper argues that the mission and curriculum of public administration education institutions and programs shall emphasize specific public service values, which should be common to all and shared by members of a society (accountability, transparency, professionalism, ethics, equity, fairness). Finally, it has suggested establishment of a public faculty or university school of public administration with multidisciplinary undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate PhD programs.

public administration education in Croatia; levels of education; education programs; comparative analysis

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