General Public Interest: between Electoral Rhetoric and Administrative Actions

Traditionally, public administration is considered to be the operative side of government. Itis supposed to include all the activities involved in carrying out the policies of the elected officialsand some activities associated with the development of these policies. In this respect, well-knownauthors consider that the Public administration is all that comes after the last election promise and theelection night cheer: the means and ends of government. The complexity of social life, however, hasgenerated in recent years the appearance of a rationality deficit in the actions of government. It is thespread of some behaviour patterns that hinder the leadership of the system: rational options arereplaced by investment policy, the administration accepts the behaviours that are substantiallydifferent from the electoral promises. This situation generates dissatisfaction of citizens, declaringthemselves dissatisfied with the activity of the public authorities which, moreover, they have chosen.The intention of this study is to encourage analytical reflections on how the general public interest isrepresented

The Innovating Triangle in Teaching European Studies: Trends, Legal Regulations, Vocations

The Report to the European Commission on Improving the quality of teaching and learning in Europe’s higher education institutions (June 2013) and the activity from INOTLES project serves the starting point for this study. The title of the report has generated the basic question of this study – innovation in teaching is adopted under the influence of trends, it is supported/required by national legislation or it is just a vocation. In this regard, the first section contains an overview of the EU Group recommendations at high level for modernization of the higher education regarding on improvement of the teaching and learning quality. The second section analyses the policy documents from Moldova and the extent to which the Changing Paradigm of Teaching by applying innovative methods of teaching is supported at governmental/institutional level. The third section contains the data and the results of a sociological analysis on the assessment and the attitude of the teaching staff and students on the application and effects of innovative teaching methods. The conclusions maintain the idea that a teaching method is considered traditional or modern based on the comparison between the intentional or unintentional produced consequences. The exchange of experience, vocation/pedagogical tact is important in Changing Paradigm of Teaching

The Sources of Distortion of Local Public Interest

The public interest is a syntagm frequently used to account for the projects and the actions of the local government authorities. The study analyses the way local elected officials relate to the content and the meaning of this concept. The quality of the social dialogue, the duality of the public life, the referential models of public policies are some sources of the gap between the administrative agenda and the citizens ‘agenda. Accepting the public interest as a guiding rule in designing the activities for the community welfare involves adjusting both the ambitions of the politicians and the social and economic pressures. The representation of the public interest requires temporary compromise, transparent decisions, based on evidence, innovation and creativity

The identity and legitimacy of the PhD in administrative sciences

The research in public administration within the PHD programmes contributes to the satisfying of the need for scientific knowledge in the field. The present study is an approach to the nature of research within the PHD programmes in Administrative Sciences. We synthetize data and information obtained out of the analysis of the activity of the doctoral programmes in Administrative Sciences and we relate it to the criteria that confer the identity and legitimacy of the PHD. We consider three essential elements: major research subjects, research methodologies, and the results disseminated that we relate to the field of study in Administrative Sciences and to the context. We realise a first diagnosis of the stage of the PHD in Administrative Sciences in Romania and the measure that it is relevant to the new economy of knowledge. The conclusion of the study is that the legitimacy of the PHD in Administrative Sciences is mainly ensured by the need to bring the academic studies in accordance to the Bologna system and the criteria imposed in order to follow an academic career. The major subjects of research consider the tendencies of evolution in Administrative Science as a totalizing science

Politico-Institutional Communication: Challenges and Impacts

In a society which is organized according to democratic principles, public institutionsobtain important prerogatives relating to administration of problems concerning public interest.Communication in governance represents the instrument which follows local institutional politics init’s materialization, it makes known for the public the administrative act, it determines the needs andwilling of the community members. The issue of communication in public institutions it is a part ofactual concerns; well known authors argue the importance of communication process, its' quality asan instrument in achieving goals etc. The scope of this article is to analyze the mode in which thecommunication in public local administration evolves. Basic concepts will be reviewed, theexplanation of fundamental processes of communication, networks and channels. The second part ofthe article contains a description of communication practices inside the system of local publicadministration. The reference framework used for public communication in Republic of Moldova ispresented, methods of implementing communication are described and analyzed, having as amilestone electoral campaigns for local elections, also a short analyses of web pages that belong tolocal public administration authorities as an instrument of institutional communication. Theapproached themes tend to relieve the stake and effects of communication inside the system of localpublic administration, and also some considerations concerning the specific of communicativeprocess in public institutions

Dilemmas of the Intermediate Level of the Administration

The administration and the authority of the intermediate level are organized very different. The invoked reasons for creating this level are varied: for a better democracy, efficiency, effective, decentralization etc. But there are points of view which associate, especially the third intermediate level with bureaucracy amplification, corruption increasing, a bad management of the new structures created, the overlapping of the responsibilities in some technical, legislative or financial fields. The study systematized these points of view, as well as the initiated changes by the European Union on the organizational and structural aspects of the intermediate level

Autoadministrarea colectivităţilor locale: aspecte teoretico-practice

Dezbaterile publice privind administraţia publică sunt de neconceput fără analiza problemelor ce vizează autoadministrarea colectivităţilor locale. Carta Europeană a Autonomiei Locale tratează colectivităţile locale ca fundamente ale democraţiilor contemporane, recunoscându-le dreptul şi capacitatea de a rezolva o parte considerabilă din problemele cu caracter local sub propria responsabilitate şi în interesul populaţiei locale. Pentru exercitarea acestui drept, fiecare stat elaborează cadrul normativ, care, sub influenţa mediului politic, social şi economic, este supus unor permanente modificări, operate pentru a da mai multă forţă sistemului de autoadministrare. Prezenta lucrare îşi propune să faciliteze cunoaşterea, înţelegerea şi însuşirea problematicii autoadministrării colectivităţilor locale. Pe planul informaţiei sunt prezentate rezultatele cercetărilor analitice, obţinute fie în cadrul unor eforturi de cercetare, fie în programe de consultanţă. Rolul acestora este de a sugera pe de o parte importanţa cunoaşterii potenţialului colectivităţilor locale, constrângerilor şi resurselor în planificarea unor măsuri asumate formal şi de o manieră sistematică. Pe de altă parte oferă soluţii practice şi sugestii privind aplicarea unor acte normative şi soluţionarea diverselor probleme generate de practicile cotidiene. Înserarea în conţinutul lucrării a problemelor de natură juridică şi teoretică urmăreşte nu doar înzestrarea cititorului cu informaţii relevante şi actuale. Acestea apar mai degrabă ca un reper pentru contemplare, pentru clarificare şi sistematizare şi mai ales pentru a le situa corect în raport cu misiunea activităţilor circumscrise administrării. Lucrarea va fi utilă celor implicaţi în procesul decizional local, funcţionarilor publici din instituţiile administraţiei publice locale, angajaţilor întreprinderilor municipale, studenţilor şi masteranzilor, tuturor celor interesaţi de problemele autoadministrării locale

Numele - element esenţial al identităţii colectivităţilor locale din Republica Moldova

The name is one of the essential basic elements of the identity of a local collectivity. The local collectivity is self-identified and individualized through its name, in relation to the other collectivities of the same type. The name of local collectivities have functioned and developed during the centuries. Their meaning, content and evolution provide the valuable information concerning the evolution of local collectivities over time. The return to the traditional names of local territorial collectivities was the first stage of the attempts to the territorial-administrative reform in Moldova. Although, many localities have reestablished their historical names, the process is not ended. Still today, one can find in toponymic landscape of Moldova, the names of localities which are improper to the national spirit and historical traditions. The procedure regarding the assignment or change of the designation and the return to the historical names of local collectivities is in the process of examination

The Evolution of the Juridical Context of the Danube River Protection

The present paper analyses the determinants of the evolution of the juridical andadministrative-institutional context of the Danube River protection. The continental conception and theutilitarian approach regarding the issue of the environmental protection are used as a methodologicalguiding mark for the analysis of the legal context. The evolution of the legal context in Romania isstrongly influenced by the evolutions of the international regulations on the matter, as well as by thesocial-economical context of the country. In the Notes that underlie the normative acts that regard theDanube River and the Danubian territory and within the content of the normative acts the establishingof interdependent connections between the economic and social development and the protection of theDanube River can be noticed. The general conceptions expressed by the national legislation haveevolved from a utilitarian approach to a holistic one, but its application is generally a challenge causedby the lack of planning, of coordination, and of an adequate mode of funding