The paper is based on a research dealing with the e-inclusion policy in Lithuania. Authors describeand analyse public and private initiatives, designed to avoid electronic disjuncture, as these initiatives canbe realized through innovative projects. E-inclusion is an activity, an instrument of creation of informationsociety for everyone. e-inclusion helps to decrease the risk of digital disjuncture, to secure that disabledpersons, elder persons and socially sensitive sets be involved in development of e-government and avoidnew forms of disjuncture caused by information illiteracy and poverty of access to internet. Mykolas RomerisUniversity participated as a national correspondent for Lithuania in eInclusion@EU project, whichwas launched under the European Union's Information Society Technology program in 2004. The paper isgrounded on the material of this project.
This paper emphasizes the importance of implementation of Lithuanian electronic government (e-government)concept, generalizes legal acts for e-government and the current situation in the field of electronic servicesin Lithuania. The paper starts with the analysis of Lithuanian legislation and scientific literature, thendiscusses e-government development trends. By reffering to the classification of content maturity of Europeaninternet websites an existing supply of e-government services is discussed. With regard to importance of informationprovided by government institutions to the public a special attention is paid to the demand of egovernmentservices. It is analysed referring to the information provided by the Department of Statistics by theGovernment of the Republic of Lithuania.
The article deals with the phenomenon of conflicts arising in the society of postcommunist transformation. Lithuaniais one of those countries where simultaneous political and social transformation and followed by legal andadministrative modernization has caused formely uknown numerous social conflicts. The old mechanisms for dealingwith new conflicts were unfit. Society became dismembered and divided.The article reviews an extent of conflicts in Lithuania, and how the state and society preserve the social orderfrom destruction. Conflict management along with its strong and weak features is under consideration. It further discussesthe following guidelines for developing a national system of conflict management:– the role and importance of public administration as a conciliatory institution;– the need for creating legal environment for conflict resolution through approving the mediation law;– strengthening individual and communal culture of dispute resolution though education and specialtraining of youth and professionals.
The influence of workers for economy development is unquestioned phenomenon. The modern managerial theories highlight the emergence of new engines which stimulates the growth processes of economy. Knowledge and information consider as new types of growth engines totally changed the features of XXI'st century's economy. As a consequence of USA's economy's transformations new class of workers – knowledge workers – emerged in the early 1960's. It is a key to stress that economies' of different world countries are shaped by many micro- and macro-factors. One of them is migration. As a rule knowledge-based economies' (KBE) are particularly sensitive for the consequences of knowledge workers migration. Mentioned factors stimulated the choice of the object for the research. Wherefore comparing and systemizing different scientific works the definition of knowledge workers and classification of knowledge workers categories considering occupation are presented in the article. The analysis is pointed out to the explanation of factors of knowledge workers migration in the individual and governmental level. The conclusion was made that migration of knowledge workers usually causes the effects of "brain drain", "brain gain", "brain circulation", "brain exchange" and "brain waste". The expression of these is analyzed in the article as well. In order to suggest the concrete actions how to suspend and attract knowledge workers to Lithuania the tendencies of knowledge workers migration in EU and the world were presented in the article. There was highlighted the main destinations of knowledge workers migration as well as the traditional consequences of knowledge workers migration for the country's economy.
Neoliberal economic policies focus on supply-side measures emphasising the role of the market in efficient resource allocation. Neoliberal policies advocate the case for a minimalist, non-interventionist government, stating that social welfare can be best advanced by promoting individual entrepreneurial freedoms. The role of the state should be limited to providing and protecting the preconditions for economic growth and the unimpeded functioning of the market. Neoliberalism promotes a market-driven society where every person is a homo economicus. In competitive markets, the rational decisions of utility-maximising consumers and profit-maximising producers will lead to market equilibrium. Since 1992, the development of the Estonian economy has been guided by neoliberal economic policies. Decision-makers and policy-shapers tend to measure good business environment with the extent to which neoliberal policies have been implemented. However, Estonia's exceptionally high economic growth rates have not been matched by substantial improvements in the quality of life. Although its economic development has been impressive from a production-oriented point of view, from a people-oriented perspective the achievements have been much more modest. It seems that corporate welfare has replaced social welfare as an economic objective. The purpose of this paper is to critically analyse neoliberal economic policies and to demonstrate their adverse socio-economic effects in Estonia. This article addresses the issue of growth versus development.
It was aspired to analyze the theoretical foundation of public participation invoking different theories explainingthis phenomenon. Theses involve the most widely used theories as: Theory of Social Capital – becauseit is still the most popular foundation in solving participation problems; Rational Choice theory – because it hasnot only features of universal theory, but is successfully used in all behaviour sciences, and certainly explainsmeasuring process (what it is the base of decision assumption in any individuals activity, in participation aswell) of participation's benefit and loss; Theory of Democracy – because it is treated as an essential assumption,the foundation to the further construct analyze and practical realization of participating ideas. Such anapproach was taken, because there is no only one universal theory explaining the phenomenon of participationinvolving different attitudes. There are chosen different theories depending on context. Authors do not intend togenerate such a theory, this is just assay to discuss the main theories, often over-passing limits of the other one,identifying problems, which hinder to shape an universal theory of participant foundation. There is confinedfrom comprehensive public or participant concepts' operationalization.
Civil society could be expressed by itself in a large variety of forms: individual initiatives through socialmovements, associations, non-governmental organizations, societies and other organizations. "Civil societyis the location from where legitimacy must be obtained if one is to talk of a democratic political system" [4,p. 25]. It is impossible to determine one model or one discourse for civil society, as well as the definition ofcivil society is not unique either. Taking into consideration the differentiation of "concepts" of civil society,the development of civil society in the article in a way is seen through NGOs - as a relation among publiccomponent in the Baltic countries. The aim of the article is to provide empirical insights, which contrastwith the normative assumptions that often underlie the "new civil society participation" literature anddiscourse of policy-makers, in particular in terms of participation. The Dahl criteria for democracy: decisionmaking processes, freedom of expression, access to information and right to freedom of association havebeen chosen aiming at evaluation of civil participation. The criteria have determined the structure of thearticle in the context of theoretical analysis. The analysis is also based on comparative method, and itinvolves three Baltic States: Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
This article assesses the impact of the UK's Committee for Standards in Public Life (CSPL) in six keyareas of political and public service: Ministers and the Executive, Members of Parliament, the House ofLords, local government, Non-Departmental Public Bodies, and electoral reform. It will argue that the CSPLhas had a demonstrable impact in terms of the number of recommendations that have been turned intolegislation and also the number other standards and ethics agencies that have subsequently arisen withinthe UK. It will also suggest, however, that standards problems do remain, and that the CSPL's impact onpublic perception of standards has been somewhat less positive.
The present demographic situation in Europe, with low birth rates and ageing populations, highlights theimpact of gender relations and family life on economic development. According to a growing body of research,countries that fail to restructure their societies in line with modern women's demands for equal rights and responsibilitiesun the risk of curbing population growth, accelerating the ageing of the population, and, in the longerterm, slowing down economic growth.In Sweden, gender equality has occupied an important place in the general political debate since the 1990s.This is reflected in a strong emphasis on gender equality as a means of enhancing quality-of-life throughout society.The opportunity for both men and women to fulfill themselves, based on their personal qualifications, results inhigher quality-of-life and the maximum utilization of human potential. Gender equality is considered a constitutionalright in Sweden, since it has been part of swedish law since 1974. In many contexts, people also refer to theScandinavian welfare state model as being particularly favorable to women, a model that has made it possible forwomen to combine parenthood and work.Gender mainstreaming is one of the most frequently used methods for achieving gender equality. In concreteterms, the gender equality perspective is incorporated into the mainstream of every political area.One of several tools for review and analysis of gender equality is the 3R method (3R means as follows:Representation, Resources and Realities). It was developed in Sweden and has primarily used by local authoritiesto review and analyse influence among women and men in municipalities. The method involves developing quantitativedata, figure and information, which then provide the basis for qualitative analysis of the operation. It servesas an aid in systematically compiling facts and information about the circumstance of women and men in a givensituation. The tool basically answers the question: who receives what and on which terms?Gender equality is ...
The article addresses the topic of balanced scorecard use in a public sector environment. While balancedscorecard is extensively studied in business management, there is a limited scope of such research on applicationsin non-profit organizations, and practically no research on balanced scorecard use in a public sector in Lithuania.The article reviews the evolution of balanced scorecard system from a merely measurement tool to a strategicmanagement system and presents the difference of balanced scorecard use for private companies from non-profitorganizations. The research presents a fragment of a concrete Lithuanian political party strategic program translatedinto terms of balanced scorecard system, enabling us to assess the balance of the strategy regarding fourdifferent perspectives, and the consistency of strategic goals, respectively their measures, targets and initiatives.
The initiatives aimed at the development of electronic government are directly related to the attempts ofpublic sector modernisation, which are taking place in many European countries. E-government is a complexissue, comprising technological, political, social, economic aspects. In narrow conception e-government can beunderstood as a provision of information and services of public authorities via electronic channels; in a broaddefinition, e-government comprises different aspects of implementing of information and telecommunicationtechnologies in the public sector, as provision of services is inseparable from broader context: channels of servicesand communication, competence of population and public servants, etc. These different concepts are reflected inthe information society's planning documents of different countries.The article reviews the planning of e-government in Lithuania and Europe. Basic Lithuania's and Europe'sdocuments dedicated for planning of e-government are studied. In this field, the most important document inLithuania is the Conception of Electronic Government that was approved by the Government of the Republic ofLithuania at the end of 2002; this document sets goals and objectives, range and priorities, management, financingand implementation of processes of e-government in Lithuania. Later, adequate documents of two internationalEuropean organisations whose member is Lithuania – European Union and Council of Europe – are analysed. Thearticle analyses and compares main concepts, ideas and aspects as well as suggested priorities and ways of egovernment'sdevelopment that are set in those documents.
With the 2002 global recession Lithuania demonstrated its resistance and flexibility and showed remarkable results(rapid GDP growth, rise in wages, strong Litas; consolidated budget deficit and public debt in line with the Maastrichtcriteria). However, from the structural viewpoint, Lithuania's economy is unbalanced – we still experience highunemployment rate, slow wage, income and consumption increase, extensive development of small and medium business,and uneven regional development. All of the above influence the formation of the state revenues. Budget revenues-to-GDPhave been on the decrease since 1998.The rapidly increasing GDP and decreasing state revenues show that the compilation of the state budget is not relatedto the GDP. The state focuses its attention on macroeconomic indicators failing to take sufficient account of the structuralproblems. Reasons for the falling state revenues lie in the fiscal policy. They are there when compiling the new budget.The reasons for the ever decreasing state revenues lie not only in the shadow economy and tax collection. Therefore themeasures adopted by the Government are inadequate and cannot fully solve the problem.The main reasons for the decrease in the state revenue are as follows:• Lithuania's fiscal policy is based on the priority of distributing expenditure rather than increasing the staterevenues;• inflexible fiscal policy and the freezing of wages, taking no account of the needs of the economy and the situation;• drawbacks of the tax system: 1) too large a tax burden on consumption and labour, whereas the share of capital,land, and real property taxes is very small; 2) the tax system is oriented towards the interests of big capital ratherthan small and medium-sized business; the tax burden on smaller companies is much larger than big ones;• the Ministry of Finance focuses on distributing the expenditure rather than analytical, strategic activities; thereforethe budget planning is based on current objectives rather than strategic decisions;• gender-based ...
This article is aimed at providing information on different possible models of the institutional structure thatcould be applied in municipalities as well as the models that have already been applied in the municipalities ofLithuania since the re-establishment of the independent state on March 11, 1990 and thus to create assumptions forthe selection of the most suitable model of the institutional structure for Lithuanian municipalities at the currentperiod.The main goal is being sought by: 1. Clearly defining and explaining the conceptions of the municipal institutional structure and the principlemodel of institutional structure.2. Indicating the principal-classic models of the municipal institutional structure as well as the reasons whycertain models of principal-derivative municipal institutional structure are applied in separate countries.3. Pointing out the principle grouping (arrangement) versions of the principal (classic and derivative) modelsof the municipal institutional structure according to the criteria chosen.4. Introducing all the models of the municipal institutional structure that have been applied in Lithuania sinceMarch 11, 1990 as well as briefly describing them.5. Submitting the proposals concerning possible models of the municipal institutional structure that could becurrently applied.
The traditional state administrative paradigm and it's connection with educational institutions is the focus of thisarticle. So, bureaucracy as the political institution is formed within the framework of universal educational paradigm. Thebureaucracy is connected with dysfunctions. The sociological research conducted in Republic of Komi has demonstrated,that, as a rule, managing posts takes the people with humanitarian university education. It is quite possible, that themodernisation of a system of a state and municipal service can begin from the development of regional educationaltraining institutions that would help "discovering" local elites that in turn would help in building public sector institutions.
High technology development and innovation transfer process is one of the backgrounds for economic developmentand modernization. The state and regional (local) administrative bodies are concerned in this field, becausethey go by the assumption that science and technology fuel economic growth. But they misconstrue the transformationof an innovative success to a market success process. The state and regional programs support explanations ofthe innovation process that are relatively simple and linear. But the relationship of science to technology and technologyto economic growth is complex, interactive and iterative. To explain them the system approach is needed. Toooften government programs address the initial transfer of technology that leads to new products, but they do notaddress the process improvements that are needed by firms for them to maintain a competitive status. The economicimpact and development are the end purpose of state and regional innovation transfer support initiatives. But statetechnology transfer efforts should be viewed more in terms of a response to concerns over the competitiveness crisis.The primary objective of local (regional) economic development policies, including technology–based policies, is toprovide jobs. It is obviously that entirely initiatives of state or private forces don't suffice to make the technologytransfer process effective. But the participation of the state and local administration bodies in innovation transfer isessential. The discussion whether the state is loosing its role in the regional development and innovation transferprocess area or not has no answers. There are some fields where the state has more competence, and some problemsthat must be solved by regions themselves. The most effect can be getting participatory by state, local or regionaladministration and business organizations or local communities.
