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This article presents macro-level study of voting in Lithuania's local elections, with emphasis on changing electoral support for the incumbent parties. Presented statistical analysis of vote change in two periods between municipal elections (year 1997-2000 and 2002-2007) aims to explain the success (and failure) of dominant parties in national government and municipal councils (two separate cases). Article is mainly oriented into the search of economic voting, but hypotheses related to other, political-institutional factors are also tested. It is discovered that dynamics of unemployment change helps to explain vote change for the party that is dominant in the municipal council, but it is not important when state of economy is worsening. The dominant party in the national government is unanimously punished when unemployment is rising, but when the state of economy is improving, average vote change for such party is not outstanding. The dispersion of vote change in both cases (when dependent variable is vote change for the dominant party in the national government) is better explained by the political-institutional variables (firstly, turnout change). Adapted from the source document.

The main aim of the article is to reveal problem of decentralization of autonomy for local authorities & territorial administration in Lithuania. The reform of administrative division & autonomy for local authorities of the country runs slowly & complicated. Though society, scientists, various branches of government has a lot of various propositions & discussions have been taking place for more than 15 years, the important decisions cannot be made because of the lack of political willpower. One could be under impression that the reform will never be completed. The main reasons of such a disturbances are related to the absence of authentic traditions of autonomy for local authorities as well as to constant changes of centralized models of territorial administration. The unfinished re-form not only disturbs even development of the country but also complicates development of autonomy for local authorities system, which is one of the most important institutions of modern democracy. This also disturbs formation of regional self-consciousness, identity at regional & local level. Finally, it complicates the development of modern civil society in Lithuania. The history of Lithuania shows that even during 20th century models of territorial administration of the country have been changed several times, though centralized government prevailed & autonomy for local authorities was very limited. This prevented formation of territorial autonomy for local authorities & community traditions, solidarity among population was decreasing while indifference to the social needs was increasing. The Soviet period demolished the first appearances of territorial (regional) identity. This consequently caused the lack of willpower to implement new reform of territorial administration. The same as during the years of independence before World War II there is still uncertainty whether centralized or vast autonomy for local authorities should be chosen as a priority. Lithuanian government has always paid the main attention to the reform of regional governing system but autonomy for local authorities is almost totally forgotten. The absence of local & regional autonomy for local authorities makes Lithuania a unique rather unitary state, with a transformed soviet administrative division. Because of these reasons the problem of reformation & decentralization of territorial administration of Lithuania remains topical. Adapted from the source document.

The article deals with problems of a sub-system in the system of strategic state administration; it shows what are the obstacles for effective long-term decision making & why the authorities prefer a conjunctural principle instead. The need to create a network of think-tanks in Lithuania is substantiated; the network would provide an efficient assistance in strategic decision-making in state's institutions. These think-tanks would embrace representatives of the state's creative elite who would supply them with various development scenarios, geoeconomic projects & programs elaborated by using special methods & software programs. The ways to stimulate the process of generation of a state's strategic goals & visions are presented; the emphasis is put on the importance of synergetic logic & thinking in the search of "new quality of development" on the state & the separate main sectors level as well. The article comes to conclusion that the possibilities of integration of strategic thought discloses itself well by designing the implications of resonant consequences of governance decisions. Adapted from the source document.

Siame straipsnyje nagrinejama Lietuvos Vyriausybes istaigu ir istaigu prie ministeriju vadovu kaita ir politizacija 1990-2012 m. Nors de jure ir de facto vadovu politizacija sioje istaigu grupeje nera didele, ji skiriasi - priklauso nuo atitinkamu laikotarpiu ir istaigu tipu. Mazejant strukturinei agenturu vadovu pareigybiu politizacijai, Lietuvoje didejo faktine vadovu politizacija ir atvirksciai. Del ju pareigybiu specifikos Vyriausybes istaigu, kurios institucineje sandaroje veikia arciau Vyriausybes centro, vadovai labiau politizuoti nei istaigu prie ministeriju vadovai. Straipsnyje teigiama, kad siu agenturu vadovu kaita geriausiai paaiskina esminiai valdanciosios daugumos ir Lietuvos Vyriausybiu pokyciai, o politizacija - politiniu partiju valdymo trukme ir ju tinklai, taip pat politinis valdymo sriciu jautrumas This article analyses the change and politicisation of the senior levels of management in the Lithuanian government agencies and agencies under the ministries in the period 1990-2012. This research indicated that de facto politicisation of the Lithuanian agencies is relatively small with only 19.1% of all agency heads engaged in party networks. The turnover of agency managers is best explained by alterations of ruling majorities and governments, taking into account more the intensive turnover of agency managers during the Lithuanian governments controlled by the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party. Politicisation of the agency managers could be explained in terms of 'push' factors (politicisation is associated with party entrenchment in power and density of the party networks) and 'pull' factors (party patronage is exercised more frequently over more politically salient areas of public services). Changes in de jure politicisation of the higher civil service depended on structural and civil service reforms. Our analysis also revealed some differences in the pattern of politicisation according to the Lithuanian political parties: if the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party de facto appoints politically affiliated managers to career positions in the Lithuanian higher civil service, the Homeland Union (Lithuanian Christian Democrats) frequently adopts the structural form of politicisation through government-wide organisational or civil service reforms. Adapted from the source document.

The article offers an in-depth analysis of the Grand Strategy development throughout the course of history via evaluation of experience of states possessing Grand Strategies alongside estimation of the Grand Strategy demand and purpose problem that has risen in the 21st Century. Presumption is offered that significance and exigency of a national Grand Strategy has not diminished in the global world, whereas only spheres and conditions for its implementation have mutated. In the Grand Strategy of the 21st Century, a definition of the national "struggle for a spot under the Sun" is gradually replaced by the "networking" concept, the latter defining national effort to employ opportunities provided by globalization in order to pursue national development. Article observes that Western States are not naturally "condemned" to materialize the vision of growing prosperity, increasing quality of life and cohesion. Success of the Western Grand Strategy model development, the one based upon the liberal democracy concept, would depend not only on logic of globalization powers, but also on necessary decisions to be made by national governments. Adapted from the source document.

Implementation of government commitments is one of the most relevant issues of public policy studies. A gap between electoral pledges, government priorities and their practical execution brought disappointment in many democratic countries and attracted significant attention from public policy researchers. This article elaborates a theoretical framework and sets several hypotheses for analysing the process of implementing performance priorities of the Lithuanian government and achieving their results. It argues that public policy decisions can be best explained by the interaction of advocacy coalitions in different policy subsystems. A public policy research agenda focused on the analysis of government commitments can be also applied to assessing how specific political priorities or other policy decisions are carried out in Lithuania and other democratic states, as well as to explaining successes and failures of their implementation process. Causal process tracing can be employed for the within-case and between-case analysis of policy studies. Theoretically developed and empirically rich policy studies following this research agenda would provide interesting insights on policy implementation to researchers, politicians, civil servants, various policy stakeholders, and even citizens. Adapted from the source document.

The aim of this article is to explore the bargaining process of the EU Financial Perspective 2007-2013 & to provide the conceptual explanation of the particular result of this bargaining. Although quite a number of drafts have been discussed among member states, three of them characterize the most important turns of the bargaining: Commission's Proposal, the Luxemburg's Compromise & the Decision of the European Council. Andrew Moravcsik's Liberal Intergovernmental Approach has been applied as the methodological tool for the analysis of the EU Financial Perspective 2007-2013. Moravcsik assumes that European bargaining is a two level game. A two level game is a metaphoric concept describing how the interaction between the domestic pressure groups & decision makers formulates national preferences & how political leaders on the European level represent those national preferences. On both levels pragmatic economic interests are the driving factors of different actors. It should be emphasized that states are the main players in EU arena, whereas supranational institutions play a supporting part. Five different groups or informal coalitions could be found in the recent bargaining for the Financial Perspective. The key interest of rich member states (UK, Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, & France) was to decrease EU spending -- to cut the contributions to the EU budget. Phasing out states (Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece) as former major beneficiaries of EU structural policy strived to diminish financial losses in the new Financial Perspective. Poorer Central European countries (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic & Hungary) fought for the structural funds. Finally, the UK was alone against the rest of member states which called for the radical review of the British rebate. The comparative statistical & qualitative analysis of those proposals revealed two important trends in the bargaining. First, the EU spending was cut in every turn. Second, the funds for the rich member states were redistributed at the expense of the poorer member states. Certainly, such redistribution did not change the fact that the older member states remained the net contributors & the poor Central European countries gained more benefits compared to the previous Financial Perspective 2000-2006. Besides these two main tendencies the phasing out states succeed to increase the funds for their undeveloped regions & the final Decision of the European Council offered for the UK the most favorable mechanism counting the British rebate. The article reveals the weaknesses of the popular geopolitical interpretations which were proposed in order to explain the strong clashes between member states. The geopolitical & ideological discourse was aimed at neutralizing the domestic pressure. The economic logic to pay less & get more was the dominant thinking in the bargaining for the European financial pie. The asymmetrical interdependence which was the main source of bargaining power during the previous intergovernmental negotiations on Common Market is obsolete in explaining the modalities of redistributional policies. The effect of relative power was limited to the bargaining strategy, however it did not make a remarkable impact to the final agreement. On the contrary, the typical net recipient is a small & poor member state. The author has to come to the conclusion that the poor Central European countries states were forced to support the cuts of the budget & suffered a relative defeat in the bargaining, since they were the main beneficiaries of the common EU budget. It means that the poor Central European countries were the most interested to reach an agreement as soon as possible in order to avoid the risk of facing the EU financial turbulences. For this reason their bargaining power was very weak. Adapted from the source document.

This article analyses main public management doctrines (traditional administration, NPM and post-NPM), assesses the doctrinal basis of public management reforms in the 2004-2010 period, provides suggestions concerning principles, directions and process of future public management reforms in Lithuania. Despite different political views and terms of various Governments, important decisions of public management reforms were based on the party logic, whose purpose is to strengthen political authority of the government in office. The implementation of the 'bureaucratic' public administration strategy, whose content was informed by the ideas of post-NPM, was initially unsuccessful because of limited political ownership and the legalistic approach. The XV Lithuanian Government undertook wide public management reforms based on the managerial doctrine with prevailing NPM characteristics. A mix of the party logic and the NPM doctrine could be contradictory and risky in Central and Eastern European countries. Also, the NPM has not yielded good results in continental Europe, its solutions do not match Lithuania's problems and there is no solid empirical evidence about its effectiveness in Lithuania. Therefore, its application should be limited and selective during Lithuania's public management reforms. Post-NPM is the best doctrine for future public management reforms, whose implementation in Lithuania should be supported by broader political consensus, better inter-institutional cooperation and a more managerial implementation approach. Adapted from the source document.

Among the so-called post-industrial countries Japan is exceptional with regard to immigration policy. Despite the supply of foreigners who would like to live and work in Japan, as well as the demand for their labour, the government succeeds to maintain its restrictive policy and construct a discourse which conceals the nature of labour migration to Japan. Based on academic literature on migration to Japan, as well as on qualitative research in Tokyo, conducted during the two-month-long fieldwork, this paper argues that the patterns in which the official discourse and the legal framework conceals labour migration push foreigners to craft their identities accordingly, and engage in "performative" migration, which, in turn, is met with suspicion from the government. Adapted from the source document.

Straipsnyje siekiama paaiskinti, kodel Andriaus Kubiliaus vyriausybes partijos (TS-LKD, LRLS ir LiCS), nepaisant nepalankiu aplinkybiu ir prognoziu, sugebejo gerai pasirodyti 2012 m. Seimo rinkimuose ir tapti daugiausia balsu gavusia valdanciaja koalicija nuo Lietuvos Nepriklausomybes atkurimo. Naudojamos dvi pagrindines teorijos: partines tapatybes ir ekonominio balsavimo. Atitinkamai pagal jas straipsnyje iskeliamos ir tikrinamos dvi hipotezes, kuriu pirmoji numato lemiama partines tapatybes vaidmeni, o antroji teigia, kad A. Kubiliaus vyriausybes partijos pritrauke ir nauju, racionalia ekonominio balsavimo logika besiremianciu rinkeju. 2012 m. porinkimines apklausos duomenu individo lygmeniu analize suteikia paramos abiem hipotezems. Straipsnyje daroma isvada, kad partine tapatybe buvo butina, taciau nepakankama gero vyriausybes pasirodymo 2012 m. Seimo rinkimuose salyga: dalis ekonomika vertinusiu kaip blogejancia istikimu rinkeju buvo prarasta, taciau siuos praradimus kompensavo nauju ekonomika retrospektyviai teigiamai vertinusiu rinkeju dalis This article aims to explain why the parties of Andrius Kubilius' government (HU-LCD, LRLM and LCU), notwithstanding the unfavourable circumstances and corresponding forecasts, managed to perform well in 2012 Seimas elections and became the first governing coalition according to the joint received vote share since the restoration of Lithuania's independence. Two main theories are employed: party identification and economic voting. Corresponding to them, two hypotheses are raised and tested in this article: first hypothesis anticipates a decisive role of party identification and the second one asserts that the parties in A. Kubilius' government attracted new voters according to the logic of economic voting. Analysis of individual level data from the 2012 post-electoral survey provides support for both hypotheses. The article concludes that party identification was necessary, though not sufficient condition of good government performance in the 2012 Seimas elections: a part of the faithful voters was lost, but these losses were compensated by new voters that positively (and retrospectively) evaluated the economy of Lithuania. Adapted from the source document.

Straipsnio tikslas - irodyti, kad demokratijai kaip politinei santvarkai nereikia religijos, kaip ja papildancio veiksnio. Irodymas grindziamas lyginamaja Alexis'o de Tocqueville'io ir Johno Rawlso paziuru analize. Tocqueville'io nuomone, demokratijai reikia religijos, kaip ja papildan-ciu morales normu saltinio. Rawlsas demokratija suvokia kaip savaran-kiska politinio gyvenimo forma, nepriklausancia nuo religiniu isitikinimu. Tocqueville'io ir Rawlso paziuru lyginamoji analize leidzia paaiskinti itampa tarp demokratijos ir religijos. Net ir siekdamas kuo didesnio nesaliskumo, demokratinis rezimas yra saliskas tam tikroms filosofinems prielaidoms, ku-riu negali pripazinti tikintieji The aim of the study was an analysis of two the conceptions of relationships between democracy and religion. One of these conceptions was created by Alexis de Tocqueville. He thought that democracy needs religion as an element that enriches it and helps in removing some negative tendencies inherent in this form of government. He understood that democracy was coalesced with the philosophies that were alien to religion, however, he demanded an alliance of democracy and religion. The other object of philosophical analysis is John Rawls. The theories of this author show an important change in the relationship of religion and democracy, which stems from the fact that he equates religion with philosophy. The Political Liberalism of Rawls helps us understand why democracy as a form of government has no need of religion. Adapted from the source document.

The paper seeks to explain the differences as to how successfully the three Baltic countries managed the economic crisis between 2008 and the first half of 2010. More specifically, it analyzes investors' confidence, Estonia being the most successful country in this regard, Latvia the least (the only country that applied for aid from the International Monetary Fund), while Lithuania staying in between. The paper aims to take into account the differences (and similarities) between the Baltic countries as well as emphasize the importance of political-institutional factors in explaining investors' confidence. The importance of investors' confidence as is discussed and different ways of measuring it are reviewed. Moreover, the relevance of political-institutional factors in explaining investors' confidence is established from the theoretical point of view. Based on existing literature, a number of explanatory factors are distinguished, namely electoral processes, non-electoral pressures on government, government stability as well as the quality of informal institutions. The paper argues that Latvia was indeed in a significantly worse situation in terms of economic pre-crisis vulnerabilities than Lithuania and Estonia, both of which had certain, albeit different, economic advantages. The main difference between Lithuania and Estonia emerges comparing political-institutional, rather than purely economic, factors: Estonia was better placed in terms of electoral cycles, the extent of non-electoral pressures, and -- most importantly -- better institutions (governance quality, corruption level, trust in political institutions). Both Latvia and Lithuania found themselves in a significantly worse situation regarding political-institutional factors. Adapted from the source document.

There are no simple answers when it comes to explaining what information technologies would change in public management. Conceptually the electronic government is a rather new research field, therefore it lacks universally accepted definitions & causal models. Therefore this article attempts to make a contribution in theoretical terms: it develops the idea that technologies provide an impetus towards development of a new institutional public management model, which is fundamentally different from the traditional rational bureaucracy & New Public Management. Having defined the main features of the IT-based model, the article discusses the possible mechanism of change -- ie., to what extent within this mechanism the IT can be considered an independent variable? Adapted from the source document.

Siame straipsnyje analizuojama Lietuvos valstybes valdomu imoniu vadovu kaita ir politizacija 1990-2012 m. Ziniasklaidoje daznai aptariami konkreciu imoniu vadovu politizacijos atvejai, taciau sistemines analizes sioje srityje stoka neleidzia daryti pagristu apibendrinimu. Del to pagrindinis straipsnio tikslas - remiantis statistine mineto laikotarpio duomenu analize ne tik identifikuoti politizacijos masta bei pasikeitimus VVI vadovu postuose, bet ir nustatyti, kaip juos veikia siu imoniu teisinis statusas, valdymo sritis, vyriausybiu tipai, partiju isitvirtinimas valdzioje ir ju nariu skaicius. Tyrimo rezultatai atskleide, kad vadovu kaita suprasti padeda valdanciosios daugumos pasikeitimai ir vyriausybiu tipai, taciau sie veiksniai savaime nepaaiskina politizacijos. Norint suprasti ta reiskini, yra butina analizuoti valdymo sriti. Analize parode, kad labiausiai politizuoti sektoriai yra miskininkyste ir energetika This article analyses the turnover and politicisation of CEO positions in the Lithuanian state-owned enterprises between 1990 and 2012. Although some individual cases of politicisation of CEO positions get detailed media coverage, there is an obvious lack of systematic large-N analysis in this field. Therefore, the main aim of the article is to identify the scope of politicisation and changes in CEO positions, as well as to account for variation in the extent of politicisation in terms of different legal statuses of these enterprises, policy fields, types of government, party entrenchment and membership. The results of this article revealed that CEO turnover is best explained by the factors of changing ruling majorities and governments. However, neither of these two factors explains CEO positions' politicisation. In order to understand this phenomenon, it is essential to distinguish among policy fields, which showed that forestry and energy are the most politicised sectors. This conclusion points to different patterns of politicisation in different sectors of the economy. Adapted from the source document.

The article compares W. Wilson's, M. Weber's & J. Schumpeter's approaches towards the role of politicians & bureaucrats. W. Wilson proposed to separate politics & administration, while M. Weber considered that bureaucracy should be subordinated to the will of political leaders & J. Schumpeter argued that professional bureaucracy should be sufficiently strong to advice & even to direct politicians. The twofold explanation is provided to explain this divergence of approaches. First, it could be explained by the variety of parliamentary systems, related to the different executive-legislative linkage, ranging from the British-type of premiership of cabinet system to the French type of assembly government. Second, it could be explained by the aims of democratic societies to have both political responsive & professionally responsible bureaucracy. Adapted from the source document.