In this article interrelationship between public governance, Knowledge Management and performance evaluation is discussed. It is argued that Knowledge Management which is defined as steering of processes of creation, sharing and application of knowledge by use of information and communication technologies is related to performance evaluation which includes performance measurement and program evaluation. In the processes of performance measurement and evaluation certain knowledge is created which should also be efficiently distributed and properly applied. Knowledge Management systems could be measured and evaluated too. In the paper the concept of "public governance" as the new paradigm of public administration which differs both of traditional public administration and the New Public Management, is formulated. The arguments are presented that specific Knowledge Management strategies as well as performance evaluation could contribute to implementation of principles of good public governance. ; Šiame straipsnyje nagrinėjamas viešojo valdymo, žinių vadybos ir veiklos vertinimo ryšys. Argumentuojama, jog žinių vadyba, suprantama kaip žinių kūrimo, apsikeitimo žiniomis ir žinių pritaikymo procesų valdymas, panaudojant informacines ir komunikacines technologijas, yra susijusi su veiklos vertinimu, apimančiu veiklos rezultatų matavimą ir programų vertinimą. Veiklos rezultatų matavimo ir vertinimo procesuose sukuriamos tam tikros žinios, kuriomis turi būti efektyviai keičiamasi, jos turi būti tinkamai panaudojamos. Žinių vadybos sistemos taip pat gali būti matuojamos ir vertinamos. Straipsnyje formuluojama "viešojo valdymo" kaip naujos viešojo administravimo paradigmos, kuri skiriasi tiek nuo tradicinio viešojo administravimo, tiek nuo naujosios viešosios vadybos, samprata. Pateikiami argumentai, kad specifinės žinių vadybos strategijos, taip pat ir veiklos rezultatų matavimas bei vertinimas gali prisidėti prie sėkmingo viešojo valdymo principų įgyvendinimo.
The article develops normative assumptions about what the political ideologies, democracy and political parties ought to be and advocates a reconsidered version of liberalism, which is perceived as an alternative to the prevailing modern political ideologies. Assumptions of reconsidered liberalism about the role of ideologies in democracy are generalized in the concept of ideological pluralism. The article also presents a concept of comprehensive democracy as an alternative to representative, direct, deliberative, civic and other modern conceptions of democracies. In this perspective democracy is perceived as a mode of collective decision-making process. Normative criteria for the basic elements of a collective decision making process, i.e.: participants of decision-making processes, decisionmaking procedures, content of decisions and implementation of decisions, are formulated. Assumptions about the alternative role of political parties in democracy are derived from the conception of the comprehensive democracy. It is proposed to assign to political parties functions such as civic education, organizing and moderating public deliberations, monitoring policy implementation.
The article develops normative assumptions about what the political ideologies, democracy and political parties ought to be and advocates a reconsidered version of liberalism, which is perceived as an alternative to the prevailing modern political ideologies. Assumptions of reconsidered liberalism about the role of ideologies in democracy are generalized in the concept of ideological pluralism. The article also presents a concept of comprehensive democracy as an alternative to representative, direct, deliberative, civic and other modern conceptions of democracies. In this perspective democracy is perceived as a mode of collective decision-making process. Normative criteria for the basic elements of a collective decision making process, i.e.: participants of decision-making processes, decisionmaking procedures, content of decisions and implementation of decisions, are formulated. Assumptions about the alternative role of political parties in democracy are derived from the conception of the comprehensive democracy. It is proposed to assign to political parties functions such as civic education, organizing and moderating public deliberations, monitoring policy implementation.
The article develops normative assumptions about what the political ideologies, democracy and political parties ought to be and advocates a reconsidered version of liberalism, which is perceived as an alternative to the prevailing modern political ideologies. Assumptions of reconsidered liberalism about the role of ideologies in democracy are generalized in the concept of ideological pluralism. The article also presents a concept of comprehensive democracy as an alternative to representative, direct, deliberative, civic and other modern conceptions of democracies. In this perspective democracy is perceived as a mode of collective decision-making process. Normative criteria for the basic elements of a collective decision making process, i.e.: participants of decision-making processes, decisionmaking procedures, content of decisions and implementation of decisions, are formulated. Assumptions about the alternative role of political parties in democracy are derived from the conception of the comprehensive democracy. It is proposed to assign to political parties functions such as civic education, organizing and moderating public deliberations, monitoring policy implementation. ; Straipsnyje plėtojamos normatyvinės prielaidos, kokios turėtų būti politinės ideologijos, demokratija ir politinės partijos. Formuluojama persvarstyto liberalizmo, kuris suvokiamas kaip patraukli alternatyva vyraujančioms šiuolaikinėms politinėms ideologijoms, versija. Persvarstyto liberalizmo prielaidas, kokios turi būti ideologijos, apibendrina ideologinio pliuralizmo samprata. Ideologiniam pliuralizmui būdinga: 1) skirtis tarp "kairės" ir "dešinės" nėra vienintelė, kuri paaiškina ideologinių schemų įvairovę – galimos ir kitokios skirtys, politinės ideologijos nebūtinai turi būti kategorizuojamos kairės-dešinės skalėje; 2) kad ideologijos būtų pripažintos demokratinėje visuomenėje, jos turi atitikti bendrus demokratiškumo principus; 3) ideologijos padeda politinėms partijoms generuoti alternatyvias socialinės tikrovės vizijas ir viešosios politikos alternatyvų paketus, įtikinti rinkėjus, suburti komandas, kompetentingas įgyvendinti šias vizijas ir viešosios politikos alternatyvas, išugdyti lyderius, kurie sugebėtų įkvėpti ir motyvuoti žmones siekti bendrų tikslų. Taip pat formuluojama visapusiškos demokratijos samprata, alternatyvi tiek atstovaujamosios, tiek tiesioginės, deliberatyvinės, pilietinės, tiek kitų šiuolaikinių demokratijų koncepcijoms. Visapusiškos demokratijos modelyje demokratija yra suvokiama kaip kolektyvinio sprendimų priėmimo proceso savybė, formuluojami normatyviniai kriterijai pagrindiniams kolektyvinio sprendimų priėmimo proceso elementams: sprendimų priėmimo proceso dalyviams, sprendimų priėmimo proceso procedūroms, sprendimų turiniui ir sprendimų įgyvendinimui. Tokia integruota demokratijos teorija sudaro galimybę formuoti naujas demokratines institucijas, keisti sprendimų priėmimo praktikas. Iš visapusiškos demokratijos sampratos išvedamos prielaidos apie kitokį politinių partijų vaidmenį – politinėms partijoms siūloma priskirti tokias funkcijas kaip piliečių ugdymas, viešųjų diskusijų iniciavimas ir moderavimas, viešosios politikos sprendimų įgyvendinimo priežiūra. Politinės partijos visapusiškoje demokratijoje turėtų veikti vadovaudamosi ideologijomis, kurios atitiktų jau minėto ideologinio pliuralizmo sąlygas. Politinių partijų vidaus valdymas taip pat turėtų būti organizuotas pagal visapusiškos demokratijos modelio kriterijus.
General characteristics and relevance of the topic. In 1995's issue of the scientific journal Public Administration Review Robert D. Behn (1995) referring to the analogy of the science of physics formulated three major questions which, in his opinion, scholars of public management should be concerned about in the 21st century. One of them was the measurement question: how public managers can measure the achievements of their agencies in ways that help to increase those achievements? After a decade the emergence of multitude of books and articles in scientific journals, changes in public sector organizations caused by implementation of models of performance measurement, performance management and quality management, governmental initiatives to implement performance measurement programmes just confirm the Behn insight on the importance of performance measurement in public organizations. For many years performance measurement as one of the major tools in the package of the New Public Management reforms has remained a significant 'management fashion' (Abrahamson, 1996) and scholars as well as practicians of traditionally more developed countries of the English speaking world and the Continental Western Europe are well aware of it. The fashion gradually comes to the post-communist Central European countries which recently joined the European Union or are in the way of doing so and which learn from the experience of more 'advanced" countries in different areas of public administration. Lithuanian public sector organizations, including municipalities, also take part in the experience transferring process and, although up to now performance measurement practices are poorly institutionalised or do not exist at all, it is likely that in the nearest future significant changes will take place in this area. Therefore, there is a great need for scientific research on public sector performance measurement of applicable nature that could provide guidelines for development of performance measurement systems, evaluate developmental opportunities and threats, and suggest prospective models. Research problem –performance measurement practices in public sector organizations and municipalities are not sufficiently analysed in the Central and Eastern European scientific literature on public administration though this topic is broadly examined by scholars of the Western countries (especially Anglo-Saxon). The topic of public sector performance measurement in Lithuania up to now has not been analysed in scientific dissertations. Goal of the dissertation is to examine the state and developmental perspectives of performance measurement in Lithuanian municipalities by applying results of scientific researches on performance measurement that were carried out in the municipalities of other countries. Tasks of the dissertation: 1. To carry out a historical overview of performance measurement practices in the municipalities of different countries and the analysis of scientific researches on the topic; 2. To develop performance measurement models that could become practically applied tools in improving performance measurement systems in Lithuanian municipalities; 3. To analyse the organisation of performance measurement systems in Lithuanian municipalities and the conditions to improve them; 4. To examine the dependence of performance measurement practices on different political, social, structural and cultural factors. Novelty of the dissertation is conditioned by its goal and tasks because municipal performance measurement practices is a new phenomenon almost never researched before in Lithuania. The researches of this dissertation are based on the methodology of action research which may appear non-traditional and innovative to the Lithuanian academic community dominated by positivistic tradition. The Local Governance Balanced Scorecard and the Municipal Performance Measurement Model developed in this dissertation are innovative models designed on the basis of the Balanced Scorecard, formulated by Kaplan and Norton in 1992 (1996, 2004), and the Common Assessment Framework which has been broadly implemented in public sector organizations as the means for evaluating quality management systems since 2000. The dissertation suggests an advanced concept of strategic management and performance measurement in the context of local governance, according to which all stakeholders should take part in processes of strategic management and performance measurement, and strategic development plans should include all goals and tasks, implementation of which needs initiative from stakeholders. Such approach to strategic management and performance measurement proceeds from the modern understanding of governance as a phenomenon opposed to government which has entrenched itself in the academic community of public administration in the last decade. The Local Governance Balanced Scorecard could be a tool to realize this approach. The Municipal Performance Measurement Model gives an opportunity to evaluate performance measurement practices that exist in municipalities. Self-evaluation of management systems according to the Municipal Performance Measurement Model can be the first step in realizing changes related to implementation of performance measurement systems in municipalities. Practical implications of the dissertation. Performance measurement systems are not developed in Lithuanian municipalities, managers and employees of municipalities lacks knowledge and skills to successfully organize performance measurement systems. Municipalities do not or almost do not apply strategic management and quality management models. Therefore, the material on performance measurement models and the experience of municipalities of different countries collected and summarised in this dissertation and the developed models of performance measurement may empower Lithuanian members of municipal councils, mayors, heads of municipality administration and employees to implement needed changes and provide with the necessary knowledge. Sources and methods of the dissertation. The dissertation is grounded on the action research methodology which is based on the pragmatic theory of knowledge. It is being argued that the pragmatic theory of knowledge following the epistemological approach, developed in the works of W.James (1995), J.Dewey (1981), J.Habermas (2004), R.Rorty (1979, 1982), differs from positivistic and interpretative theories of knowledge because under this epistemological paradigm the goals of scientific research and transformation of social reality are closely interrelated. After evaluating the action research approaches of K.Lewin, Ch.Argyris (Argyris ir kt., 1985), P.Checkland (Checkland, 1999; Checkland, Poulter, 2006) (Reason, Bradbury, 2001), a modified concept of action research, providing justification to the tasks of the dissertation and methods of their implementation, is formulated. It is argued that scientific research is the process of learning under which assumptions about social phenomena, their changes and the effectiveness of the methods of acquiring knowledge about social phenomena as well as the influence to the changes of social phenomena are formulated and tested, assumptions that are not approved by empirical facts are rejected, more accurate assumptions are postulated, etc. In other words, in the process of scientific research one learns by 'trial and error", by raising ideas and implementing them, making mistakes and avoiding their recurrence. Knowledge acquisition process in social sciences is also equated to the process of innovation creation and management, because namely discoveries and novelties - new theories, models and methods – that directly or indirectly cause positive changes in human lives, have great value in scientific cognition. Therefore, by developing this concept of scientific cognition it is possible to refer to the insights provided by the discipline of innovation management. In aiming to implement the tasks of the dissertation those research and data collection methods are used: modelling, expert survey, content analysis, e-mail survey. OVERVIEW OF THE DISSERTATION STRUCTURE The constituent parts of the dissertation are the following: introduction, theoretical and research parts, and conclusions. The first part 'The Theoretical Analysis of Performance Measurement in Municipalities' analyses the process of performance measurement and its opportunities in improving local government, evaluates the international experience in municipal performance measurement and examines the results of scientific researches on performance measurement. This part consists of four chapters. The first chapter 'The Concept and Context of Performance Measurement in Municipalities' formulates the descriptions of the major concepts and discusses the problems of term usage, analyses the peculiarities of performance measurement in municipalities, evaluates factors and motives that determine performance measurement practices in municipalities, overviews performance measurement practices and researches in Lithuania. In the section 1.1 it is stated that the meaning of the concepts 'performance measurement', 'productivity measurement', 'performance evaluation', 'performance observation' is similar and the definition of the chosen concept 'performance measurement' is presented. Other concepts fundamental for this work and terms denoting them are discussed. Aiming to simplify the understanding of the terms used in the dissertation the glossary of major terms indicating English terms and their equivalents in Lithuanian is made. The section 1.2 raises a question, how performance measurement practices in municipalities are similar and specific as compared to other public and private sector organisations. An assumption that the differences of performance measurement practices in different organisations are conditioned by organizational si
General characteristics and relevance of the topic. In 1995's issue of the scientific journal Public Administration Review Robert D. Behn (1995) referring to the analogy of the science of physics formulated three major questions which, in his opinion, scholars of public management should be concerned about in the 21st century. One of them was the measurement question: how public managers can measure the achievements of their agencies in ways that help to increase those achievements? After a decade the emergence of multitude of books and articles in scientific journals, changes in public sector organizations caused by implementation of models of performance measurement, performance management and quality management, governmental initiatives to implement performance measurement programmes just confirm the Behn insight on the importance of performance measurement in public organizations. For many years performance measurement as one of the major tools in the package of the New Public Management reforms has remained a significant 'management fashion' (Abrahamson, 1996) and scholars as well as practicians of traditionally more developed countries of the English speaking world and the Continental Western Europe are well aware of it. The fashion gradually comes to the post-communist Central European countries which recently joined the European Union or are in the way of doing so and which learn from the experience of more 'advanced" countries in different areas of public administration. Lithuanian public sector organizations, including municipalities, also take part in the experience transferring process and, although up to now performance measurement practices are poorly institutionalised or do not exist at all, it is likely that in the nearest future significant changes will take place in this area. Therefore, there is a great need for scientific research on public sector performance measurement of applicable nature that could provide guidelines for development of performance measurement systems, evaluate developmental opportunities and threats, and suggest prospective models. Research problem –performance measurement practices in public sector organizations and municipalities are not sufficiently analysed in the Central and Eastern European scientific literature on public administration though this topic is broadly examined by scholars of the Western countries (especially Anglo-Saxon). The topic of public sector performance measurement in Lithuania up to now has not been analysed in scientific dissertations. Goal of the dissertation is to examine the state and developmental perspectives of performance measurement in Lithuanian municipalities by applying results of scientific researches on performance measurement that were carried out in the municipalities of other countries. Tasks of the dissertation: 1. To carry out a historical overview of performance measurement practices in the municipalities of different countries and the analysis of scientific researches on the topic; 2. To develop performance measurement models that could become practically applied tools in improving performance measurement systems in Lithuanian municipalities; 3. To analyse the organisation of performance measurement systems in Lithuanian municipalities and the conditions to improve them; 4. To examine the dependence of performance measurement practices on different political, social, structural and cultural factors. Novelty of the dissertation is conditioned by its goal and tasks because municipal performance measurement practices is a new phenomenon almost never researched before in Lithuania. The researches of this dissertation are based on the methodology of action research which may appear non-traditional and innovative to the Lithuanian academic community dominated by positivistic tradition. The Local Governance Balanced Scorecard and the Municipal Performance Measurement Model developed in this dissertation are innovative models designed on the basis of the Balanced Scorecard, formulated by Kaplan and Norton in 1992 (1996, 2004), and the Common Assessment Framework which has been broadly implemented in public sector organizations as the means for evaluating quality management systems since 2000. The dissertation suggests an advanced concept of strategic management and performance measurement in the context of local governance, according to which all stakeholders should take part in processes of strategic management and performance measurement, and strategic development plans should include all goals and tasks, implementation of which needs initiative from stakeholders. Such approach to strategic management and performance measurement proceeds from the modern understanding of governance as a phenomenon opposed to government which has entrenched itself in the academic community of public administration in the last decade. The Local Governance Balanced Scorecard could be a tool to realize this approach. The Municipal Performance Measurement Model gives an opportunity to evaluate performance measurement practices that exist in municipalities. Self-evaluation of management systems according to the Municipal Performance Measurement Model can be the first step in realizing changes related to implementation of performance measurement systems in municipalities. Practical implications of the dissertation. Performance measurement systems are not developed in Lithuanian municipalities, managers and employees of municipalities lacks knowledge and skills to successfully organize performance measurement systems. Municipalities do not or almost do not apply strategic management and quality management models. Therefore, the material on performance measurement models and the experience of municipalities of different countries collected and summarised in this dissertation and the developed models of performance measurement may empower Lithuanian members of municipal councils, mayors, heads of municipality administration and employees to implement needed changes and provide with the necessary knowledge. Sources and methods of the dissertation. The dissertation is grounded on the action research methodology which is based on the pragmatic theory of knowledge. It is being argued that the pragmatic theory of knowledge following the epistemological approach, developed in the works of W.James (1995), J.Dewey (1981), J.Habermas (2004), R.Rorty (1979, 1982), differs from positivistic and interpretative theories of knowledge because under this epistemological paradigm the goals of scientific research and transformation of social reality are closely interrelated. After evaluating the action research approaches of K.Lewin, Ch.Argyris (Argyris ir kt., 1985), P.Checkland (Checkland, 1999; Checkland, Poulter, 2006) (Reason, Bradbury, 2001), a modified concept of action research, providing justification to the tasks of the dissertation and methods of their implementation, is formulated. It is argued that scientific research is the process of learning under which assumptions about social phenomena, their changes and the effectiveness of the methods of acquiring knowledge about social phenomena as well as the influence to the changes of social phenomena are formulated and tested, assumptions that are not approved by empirical facts are rejected, more accurate assumptions are postulated, etc. In other words, in the process of scientific research one learns by 'trial and error", by raising ideas and implementing them, making mistakes and avoiding their recurrence. Knowledge acquisition process in social sciences is also equated to the process of innovation creation and management, because namely discoveries and novelties - new theories, models and methods – that directly or indirectly cause positive changes in human lives, have great value in scientific cognition. Therefore, by developing this concept of scientific cognition it is possible to refer to the insights provided by the discipline of innovation management. In aiming to implement the tasks of the dissertation those research and data collection methods are used: modelling, expert survey, content analysis, e-mail survey. OVERVIEW OF THE DISSERTATION STRUCTURE The constituent parts of the dissertation are the following: introduction, theoretical and research parts, and conclusions. The first part 'The Theoretical Analysis of Performance Measurement in Municipalities' analyses the process of performance measurement and its opportunities in improving local government, evaluates the international experience in municipal performance measurement and examines the results of scientific researches on performance measurement. This part consists of four chapters. The first chapter 'The Concept and Context of Performance Measurement in Municipalities' formulates the descriptions of the major concepts and discusses the problems of term usage, analyses the peculiarities of performance measurement in municipalities, evaluates factors and motives that determine performance measurement practices in municipalities, overviews performance measurement practices and researches in Lithuania. In the section 1.1 it is stated that the meaning of the concepts 'performance measurement', 'productivity measurement', 'performance evaluation', 'performance observation' is similar and the definition of the chosen concept 'performance measurement' is presented. Other concepts fundamental for this work and terms denoting them are discussed. Aiming to simplify the understanding of the terms used in the dissertation the glossary of major terms indicating English terms and their equivalents in Lithuanian is made. The section 1.2 raises a question, how performance measurement practices in municipalities are similar and specific as compared to other public and private sector organisations. An assumption that the differences of performance measurement practices in different organisations are conditioned by organizational si
This interdisciplinary article presents a concept of the 21st century and phenomena that are products of the 4th industrial revolution – big data and Artificial Intelligence technologies – as well as the opportunities of their application in public governance and social policy. This paper examines the advantages and disadvantages of big data, problems of data collection, its reliability and use. Big data can be used for the analysis and modeling of phenomena relevant to public governance and social policy. Big data consist of three main types: a) historical data, b) present data with little delay, c) prognostic data for future forecasting. The following categories of big data can be defined as: a) data from social networks, b) traditional data from business systems, c) machine-generated data, such as water extraction, pollution, satellite information. The article analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of big data. There are big data challenges such as data security, lack of cooperation in civil service and social work, in rare situations – data fragmentation, incompleteness and erroneous issues, as well as ethical issues regarding the analysis of data and its use in social policy and social administration. Big data, covered by Artificial Intelligence, can be used in public governance and social policy by identifying "the hot spots" of various phenomena, by prognosing the meanings of variables in the future on the basis of past time rows, and by calculating the optimal motion of actions in the situations where there are possible various alternatives. The technologies of Artificial Intelligence are used more profoundly in many spheres of public policy, and in the governance of COVID-19 pandemics too. The substantial advantages of the provided big data and Artificial Intelligence are a holistic improvement of public services, possibilities of personalization, the enhancement of citizen satisfaction, the diminishing of the costs of processing expenditure, the targeting of adopted and implemented decisions, more active involvement of citizens, the feedback of the preferences of policy formation and implementation, the observation of social phenomenas in real time, and possibilities for more detailed prognosing. Challenges to security of data, necessary resources and competences, the lack of cooperation in public service, especially rare instances of data fragmentation, roughness, falseness, and ethical questions regarding data analysis and application can be evaluated as the most significant problems of using big data and Artificial Intelligence technologies. Big data and their analytics conducted using Artificial Intelligence technologies can contribute to the adequacy and objectivity of decisions in public governance and social policy, effectively curbing corruption and nepotism by raising the authority and confidence of public sector organizations in governance, which is so lacking in the modern world.
This interdisciplinary article presents a concept of the 21st century and phenomena that are products of the 4th industrial revolution – big data and Artificial Intelligence technologies – as well as the opportunities of their application in public governance and social policy. This paper examines the advantages and disadvantages of big data, problems of data collection, its reliability and use. Big data can be used for the analysis and modeling of phenomena relevant to public governance and social policy. Big data consist of three main types: a) historical data, b) present data with little delay, c) prognostic data for future forecasting. The following categories of big data can be defined as: a) data from social networks, b) traditional data from business systems, c) machine-generated data, such as water extraction, pollution, satellite information. The article analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of big data. There are big data challenges such as data security, lack of cooperation in civil service and social work, in rare situations – data fragmentation, incompleteness and erroneous issues, as well as ethical issues regarding the analysis of data and its use in social policy and social administration. Big data, covered by Artificial Intelligence, can be used in public governance and social policy by identifying "the hot spots" of various phenomena, by prognosing the meanings of variables in the future on the basis of past time rows, and by calculating the optimal motion of actions in the situations where there are possible various alternatives. The technologies of Artificial Intelligence are used more profoundly in many spheres of public policy, and in the governance of COVID-19 pandemics too. The substantial advantages of the provided big data and Artificial Intelligence are a holistic improvement of public services, possibilities of personalization, the enhancement of citizen satisfaction, the diminishing of the costs of processing expenditure, the targeting of adopted and implemented decisions, more active involvement of citizens, the feedback of the preferences of policy formation and implementation, the observation of social phenomenas in real time, and possibilities for more detailed prognosing. Challenges to security of data, necessary resources and competences, the lack of cooperation in public service, especially rare instances of data fragmentation, roughness, falseness, and ethical questions regarding data analysis and application can be evaluated as the most significant problems of using big data and Artificial Intelligence technologies. Big data and their analytics conducted using Artificial Intelligence technologies can contribute to the adequacy and objectivity of decisions in public governance and social policy, effectively curbing corruption and nepotism by raising the authority and confidence of public sector organizations in governance, which is so lacking in the modern world. ; Šiame tarpdisciplininiame straipsnyje pateikiama XXI amžiaus ketvirtosios pramonės revoliucijos fenomenų – didžiųjų duomenų ir dirbtinio intelekto technologijų – samprata ir aptariamos jų naudojimo viešojo valdymo srityje ir socialinėje politikoje galimybės, nagrinėjami didžiųjų duomenų pranašumai ir trūkumai, jų rinkimo, patikimumo ir naudojimo problemos. Didieji duomenys gali būti naudojami su viešuoju valdymu ir socialine politika susijusių reiškinių analizei ir jiems modeliuoti. Didieji duomenys apima tris duomenų tipus: a) istorinius duomenis, b) dabarties duomenis su mažu pavėlavimu, c) prognostinius duomenis ateičiai prognozuoti. Galima apibrėžti šias didžiųjų duomenų kategorijas: a) duomenis iš socialinių tinklų, b) valdymo sistemų duomenis, c)mašinų generuojamus duomenis, pavyzdžiui, vandens gavybos, užterštumo, palydovų informaciją. Straipsnyje yra analizuojami didžiųjų duomenų pranašumai ir trūkumai. Galimi tokie didžiųjų duomenų iššūkiai, kaip antai: duomenų saugumas, bendradarbiavimo stoka valstybės tarnyboje, labai retai nutinkančios situacijos, duomenų fragmentacija, nebaigtumas ir klaidingumas, etiniai duomenų analizės ir naudojimo viešojo valdymo srityje ir socialinėje politikoje klausimai. Didieji duomenys ir jų analizė naudojant dirbtinio intelekto technologijas gali prisidėti prie viešojo valdymo ir socialinės politikos sprendimų adekvatumo ir objektyvumo,veiksmingai pažaboti korupciją ir nepotizmą didinant viešojosektoriaus organizacijų autoritetą ir pasitikėjimą valdžia, o jo šiuolaikiniame pasaulyje taip trūksta.
The article presents the results of a quantitative study. The aim of the article is to identify the factors motivating teachers of the Vilnius City Municipality to work. The questionnaire survey of Vilnius city teachers was conducted in April-May, 2020, using the electronic survey tool Qualtrics. Employees of the Vilnius City Municipality Administration distributed the link to the questionnaire to all teachers of the Vilnius city schools by e-mail. 1660 respondents started the questionnaire on this electronic platform, but after eliminating the incomplete questionnaires, a database of 873 respondents who answered all the questions of the questionnaire was created. The survey of teachers of Vilnius city educational institutions has shown that teachers are most motivated by the improvement of teachers' working conditions at school and the reduction of direct control as well as by personal recognition and ensuring favourable opportunities for professional development.
The chapter explores the trajectories of the evolution of political science (PS) in four former Soviet Socialist Republics (Estonia and Lithuania, the Republics of Moldova and Belarus) after the USSR collapse. Departing from the premise that PS is appreciated as the science of democracy, the authors claim that its identity and autonomy are particularly important. Research shows that PS in these countries started from the same impoverished basis ("scientific communism"), but it soon took diverse trajectories and currently faces specific challenges. Democracy, pro-Western geopolitical settings and the shorter period of Sovietization contributed to the faster and more sustainable development of PS in two Baltic States. However, in Estonia, political developments have led to the retrenchment of PS and to downsize of universities' departments and study programmes. In Lithuania, political scientists are very visible in the public sphere. In Moldova, its uncertain geopolitical orientation and a series of internal political conflicts have led to the weak identity of PS and questionable prospects for its further institutionalization. In authoritarian Belarus, PS as an academic discipline exists within a hostile political environment and under a hierarchical system of governance offering practically no degree of academic freedom ; Generolo Jono Žemaičio karo akademija ; Mykolo Romerio universitetas ; Politikos mokslų ir diplomatijos fakult. ; Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas
In: Nonprofit and voluntary sector quarterly: journal of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action, Band 48, Heft 5, S. 1094-1109
We examine the relevance of suggestive findings and assumptions about immigrant philanthropy to a diaspora from a high-income country of origin, whose members are generally highly educated and professionally employed: the Lithuanian diaspora. We investigate whether this immigrant group's voluntary sector participation, despite these differences, may evolve similar to that of other immigrant groups studied. The study casts doubt on the generalizability of the current claims from the literature—which is largely derived from cases of immigrants migrating from the South to the North—to immigrant and diaspora groups who are highly skilled and originating from relatively more industrialized countries (North–North migration). The findings highlight the need to examine the voluntary sector participation of a greater variety of diasporas and to recognize that not all groups will behave similarly. Some of the differentiated behavior may stem from demographic characteristics specific to North–North migration.
