{"title":"Multiple Streams Framework as Scientific Research Program and Tool for the Analysis of Public Policy Issues","authors":"František Ochrana, V. Novotný, Olga Angelovská","doi":"10.2478/nispa-2022-0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2022-0007","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) is currently one of the most widely used frameworks in policy process research. It explains how policy agenda develops in the policy process with emphasis on policy adoption. This article examines MSF from the perspective of the history of science and Lakatos’ methodology of scientific research programs. In this respect, we consider MSF a “semi-strong theory” that uses a form of subsumption under theory for scientific explanation. This differs from a “strong” explanatory theory (e.g., physics), which uses explanations in the form of subsumption under scientific law. From the point of view of Lakatos’ methodology, MSF represents a scientific research program. The basic element is a hard core given mainly by the MSF hypothesis for the framework as a whole and MSF assumptions and key structural elements. Around the hard core there is a protective belt of auxiliary hypotheses. They correspond to hypotheses related to the framework’s key elements and to the hypothesis for the framework as a whole. MSF has negative heuristics (prohibition of the use of the modus tollens rule) and positive heuristics, which are represented by a set of theoretically and empirically progressive theories that further develop the MSF research program. An analysis of studies on MSF reveals that single hypotheses are only exceptionally tested using “hard” data and quantitative methods. Qualitative analysis (case studies) predominates, which contributes to the development of MSF theory. Therefore, we can consider a progressive shift in theory. In this respect, MSF can be considered a successful research program. However, in terms of the methodology of scientific research programs, MSF has a number of other opportunities to develop hypothesis testing further and use various modelling methods with data sets. Thus, MSF represents an interesting scientific research program, which needs to be further developed and specified in the spirit of the methodology of scientific research programs, It is a challenge for interdisciplinary research in the field of social sciences.","PeriodicalId":43378,"journal":{"name":"NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy","volume":"15 1","pages":"141 - 165"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48031103","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effectiveness of Administrative Appeal in Slovenia and Croatia – Between National Traditions and EU Standards","authors":"P. Kovač, Urška Ribič","doi":"10.2478/nispa-2022-0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2022-0003","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The administrative appeal is a multifunctional legal remedy whose purpose is to protect the rights of the parties vis-à-vis the authorities and provide – through a generalisation of cases – a regulatory feedback loop leading to better sector-specific regulations. The administrative appeal is thus a constitutional guarantee of democratic governance, as well as mechanism of good administration and effective public policies, as long as it is implemented in line with the purpose of regulation. To examine the theoretical and regulatory objectives of the administrative appeal in Slovenia and Croatia and test its compliance with EU trends, a comparative analysis of the key provisions of the systemic laws on the general administrative procedure (APAs) was carried out. In such context, specific effectiveness criteria were developed, focusing on the admissibility, devolution and suspensiveness of the administrative appeal, as well as on the duration of the administrative appeal procedure. The achievement of the regulatory objectives of the APAs in both countries was further examined through interviews with experts in administrative procedural law and, for Slovenia, through an analysis of administrative case law. The finding suggest that the most challenging issues are the (non-)suspensiveness of the appeal and the duration of procedure. Hence, the administrative appeal may well be a fairly suitable safeguard of the constitutional rights of the parties in individual cases, but on a systemic level, its potential for good administration is not fully exploited. This instrument should therefore be further developed, e.g., through a mutatis mutandis application of the APA in all administrative acts and an even more consistent application in the most disputable administrative procedures, particularly in terms of the suspension of enforcement pending administrative finality and the still reasonably long procedures. The key points for practitioners are: • The administrative appeal has various functions, such as protecting international and constitutional safeguards of the parties to the procedure and ensuring a coherent administrative-legal system; • In the EU, procedural issues in individual Member States can largely be regulated autonomously; however, there are certain characteristics necessary to define the appeal as an effective tool; • Slovenia and Croatia regulate the administrative procedure in a rather similar way, yet there are some crucial differences in effectiveness of the administrative appeal both in law and, particularly, in practice; • Experts, especially from the CEE region, can learn about the gap between theory and practice in the selected countries, which enables them to compare other similar national systems in line with the EU standards.","PeriodicalId":43378,"journal":{"name":"NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy","volume":"15 1","pages":"39 - 60"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45099614","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Páleníková, Ondřej Špetík, Robert Páleník, Jan Ilík, Michal Adamík
{"title":"Implementation of Sustainable Public Procurement in the Rail Transport in the Czech Republic and a Comparison with the Other Members of the Visegrad Group","authors":"M. Páleníková, Ondřej Špetík, Robert Páleník, Jan Ilík, Michal Adamík","doi":"10.2478/nispa-2022-0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2022-0008","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper focuses on sustainable public procurement (SPP) and its role in public procurement of the members of the Visegrad Group (Hungarian, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic). Sustainable public procurement is a current trend in public purchasing around the world. The European Union’s sustainable development policy, which respects the objectives of the 2030 Agenda, seeks to influence the public procurement policies of the members of the European Union. Every country, including the Visegard Group countries is trying to implement sustainable development criteria in its procurement process and to change legislation. The aim of this paper is to compare the implementation of public procurement in the Czech Republic with other members of the Visegrad Group (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary) and analyse how the public procurement (tenders) respects the criteria of sustainable public procurement in the case of the selected public procurements (tenders) in rail transport. We analyse the public procurement process and investigate the possibility/appropriateness of using social responsibility criteria in the individual phases of the procurement process (award criteria). The results show that there are different methods of implementing SPP in the V4 countries. There are significant differences between the regions. Based on the results of our research and analysis of the selected tenders, we concluded that the principle of social responsibility needs to be reflected in all steps, i.e. in the formulation of the subject of the public contract, the preparation of the contractual terms and the selection of evaluation criteria in their qualitative form.","PeriodicalId":43378,"journal":{"name":"NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy","volume":"15 1","pages":"167 - 199"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43597375","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Impact of Trust in Government – Young Voters’ Behavioral Intention to Use I-voting in Slovenia","authors":"Edvard Kozel, M. Dečman","doi":"10.2478/nispa-2022-0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2022-0004","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In order to create public value and meet the demands of the modern information society, governments and public administrations strongly rely on information technology and e-government, but its acceptance is significantly influenced by the level of citizens’ trust in government. This study explores the issue of citizens’ trust in government in relation to i-voting in Slovenia, a country with existing interest in i-voting but a low level of trust in government, especially among the young population. The authors analyze how such distrust impacts behavior intention towards i-voting, decomposing trust into a political component and an administrative component, and into local and state levels. Based on a modified version of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, the results of 194 respondents show that young student voters’ trust in politicians and electoral committees does not affect their intention to use i-voting. However, they trust the local level of government more than the state level, and electoral committees more than politicians.","PeriodicalId":43378,"journal":{"name":"NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy","volume":"15 1","pages":"61 - 87"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47081062","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Effect of Academic Discipline on Policy Attitudes: The Case of Czech University Students","authors":"A. Veselý, P. Soukup","doi":"10.2478/nispa-2022-0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2022-0010","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract While the effect of academic discipline on political attitudes has long been acknowledged, much less is known on how disciplinary background affects policy attitudes. Linder and Peters (1992) argued that attitudes to policy instruments correspond with discipline: lawyers are assumed to tend to be partial to legalistic regulatory instruments, economists to favor economic tools such as loans or taxation. Nevertheless, relevant empirical evidence is almost non-existent. The paper attempts to bridge this gap by comparing policy instruments attitudes in different academic disciplines on a sample of Czech university students (N = 8820). We inquire whether students in different academic fields (with special emphasis on economics, law, education, political science, and mass media/journalism) differ in their political and policy views. In line with previous research, students pursuing economics and law (as well as education) are found to be more right-wing oriented than students of political science and mass media. Students also differ in terms of their overall acceptance of policy instruments, with those of political science being the most accepting of all types of instruments. However, we find little support for the correspondence thesis proposed by Linder and Peters.","PeriodicalId":43378,"journal":{"name":"NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy","volume":"15 1","pages":"223 - 249"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46512962","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
B. Meričková, J. Soukopová, M. Šumpíková, Milan Krapek
{"title":"Municipal Solid Waste Management in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia","authors":"B. Meričková, J. Soukopová, M. Šumpíková, Milan Krapek","doi":"10.2478/nispa-2022-0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2022-0005","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Contracting waste management services is one of the most commonly used approaches to the delivery of this service and this topic is clearly in the focus of frequent academic research. The goal of this article is to examine trends in the area of solid waste collection and disposal on the municipal level for the Czech Republic and Slovakia in terms of developments over the past 20 years with a focus on the share of inter-municipal cooperation in the delivery of this service. In contrast to Western European countries, which are undergoing re-municipalization, the data obtained for Slovakia and the Czech Republic over 20 years show that the municipal solid waste management service is dominated by contracting, which has increased over the examined period. This fact is apparently a reflection of the high rate of fragmentation in municipal structures and the low willingness among municipalities to cooperate. The data obtained also indicate that using external suppliers seems to bring marginal savings that could certainly be substantially larger; potential increases in efficiency via contracting are unequivocally limited by the low quality of contract management. Regarding our core question, we found that the proportion of inter-municipal cooperation between service delivery modes did not significantly increase during the investigated period. The experts interviewed almost uniformly agreed on three critical limits related to the issue of inter-municipal cooperation in MSW management delivery – transaction costs of different types, non-existent regular comparisons of best solutions, and limited motivation to select optimal service delivery modes.","PeriodicalId":43378,"journal":{"name":"NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy","volume":"15 1","pages":"89 - 112"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48510092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Usability of Municipal Performance-based Budgets within Strategic Planning in Slovakia: Perception of Elected Local Representatives","authors":"A. Čajková, Ivana Butoracová Šindleryová","doi":"10.2478/nispa-2022-0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2022-0002","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The article aims to present the concept of performance-based budgeting at the local government level with a focus on its importance for strategic management at the local government level. The original intention of introducing programme budgeting, which is clearly linked to performance management and results, was to improve strategic-oriented public management, in particular by focusing on objectives and using performance information as well as performance measures. Much more attention has recently been paid to the importance and use of performance information and performance measures. Based on case studies, the authors analyse the significance of the performance information provided in the newly established performance budgets of municipalities, while the findings were supplemented by a perception of the current situation in the form of semi-structured interviews with elected representatives of selected local governments. The results of the article seek to highlight the advantages of implementing this concept, the appropriate ways and obstacles often encountered, and important recommendations for improving its use, summarised on the basis of more than a decade of experience since the introduction of this budgetary innovation on the basis of legislation as mandatory budgetary policy instruments in Slovakia for all self-governing regions and local governments in municipalities with more than 2,000 inhabitants. This leads to the conclusion of whether PBB, among other approaches, is an option or a real necessity for today’s economic challenges, but at the same time to the actual need for changes in the methodology of this strategic management tool at the local government level.","PeriodicalId":43378,"journal":{"name":"NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy","volume":"15 1","pages":"17 - 37"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45081290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Editorial: COVID-19 Pandemics and Politics","authors":"C. Hințea, Maja Klun, J. Nemec","doi":"10.2478/nispa-2022-0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2022-0001","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This short editorial proposes a specific topic for comprehensive research in COVID-19 in the CEE area, namely the role of politicians and politics during the pandemic. The text includes three short country case studies (Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia), describing different aspects of the politics/political fighting relationship and the COVID-19 pandemic. The experts’ arguments suggest that the “motto of the day” should be working together and not fighting each other. However, nothing (“almost nothing”) like this is visible in our region – or at lease in our three case studies, the only positive aspect from this point of view is the joint call of all parliamentary group leaders for vaccination in Slovenia. By its content, the editorial calls for comprehensive research on the aims of the current antagonistic situation and possible actions.","PeriodicalId":43378,"journal":{"name":"NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy","volume":"15 1","pages":"9 - 15"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42105807","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF LAWS AND JURISPRUDENCE ON SALARIES AND REMUNERATION OF PUBLIC AND STATE OFFICERS IN KENYA","authors":"Olayo Ochieng, Lewis Kamau","doi":"10.47604/jppa.1536","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47604/jppa.1536","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: This paper aimed at critically analyzing the laws and jurisprudence on salary and remuneration of public and state officers in Kenya. \u0000Methodology: The paper used desk review method. It identified secondary materials related and relevant to study. Particularly, the study journal articles and case laws. \u0000Results: The study found that Salaries and Remuneration Commission, as an independent body under the constitution charged with remuneration of public and state officers has experienced lot of interference from other state agencies. At the same time the commission has in some instance acted ultra vires despite the law providing clearly its mandate. \u0000Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: To avoid the court battles as a result of interferences, there is need for the commission to have structural engagement with all public agencies and bodies so as to clarify its mandate. Just as the relationship between the national and county governments is based on the principle of consultation and cooperation, the same can be adopted by the commission to ensure effective and efficient service delivery.","PeriodicalId":43378,"journal":{"name":"NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy","volume":"30 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2022-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83122512","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"MANY ARE CRYING, “WHO WILL SHOW US ANY GOOD?” – VOICES OF DECEMBER 2007 POST-ELECTION VIOLENCE VICTIMS IN KENYA","authors":"Paul Mbutu, Jimi Wanjigi","doi":"10.47604/jppa.1511","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47604/jppa.1511","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: This study analyzes and brings to light the voices of the victims who suffered particularly the socio-economic effects of the 2007 December violence and land clashes that took place in Kenya. During the 2007 December violence and land clashes, women, children and men were affected differently by the conflict, with women and children suffering most of the effects such as death, physical injuries and insufficient resources to take care of their basic needs. Consequently, as women experienced the immediate consequences of the conflict, they were the first to receive humanitarian assistance from international Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) like the Red Cross and a few indigenous ones. The voices of the victims narrating the violence they went through and the trauma they lived with would engage the minds of peace-caring persons to speak against violence of this nature in the future. \u0000Methodology: Utilizing a qualitative study approach, the study focuses on 17 interview transcripts, statements taken from Kenyan newspapers of January 2008, online newspapers during the same period, eyewitness accounts as recorded in papers. For the theoretical framework, I used thematic analysis because these were stories “told” by the affected individuals. \u0000Findings: My aim was to purposely establish how the rhetorical narratives as told by the affected individuals “chain out”. Are there any running main themes and patterns across the narratives? What is the “master narrative? What are the “counter narratives”, how are they constructed, and how do they attack the master narrative? One of the key issues I identified in my literature review as the cause of violence in Kenya is land. Violence was rampant and severe in the rich agricultural region of the Rift Valley. \u0000Unique contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: The study underscores the importance of listening to people’s voices and the stories as told by the victims themselves. Narrative framework and mainly thematic analysis framework helped in the analysis of the stories told by the violence victims. The country seemed to be polarized along ethnic lines – which to me, is a big deterrent for development. Politically, people need to be educated on their political rights and not be misused by politicians for their own advantage. The government, the judicial system, the church and the Electoral Commission of Kenya should address the issues raised by these traumatized and overwhelmed individuals.","PeriodicalId":43378,"journal":{"name":"NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy","volume":"77 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2022-04-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84374693","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}