PUPn4466 Governance, Agency and Problems of Public Administration

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2025

The course is not taught in Spring 2025

Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 8 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Roman Baláž, Ph.D. (lecturer)
prof. PhDr. Tomáš Sirovátka, CSc. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Tomáš Sirovátka, CSc.
Department of Social Policy and Social Work – Faculty of Social Studies
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 8 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The GAPPA course aims to introduce students to 1) the governance in the EU member states and 2) the agency of policy actors in specific governance structures. The flow of power among the policy actors and its legitimacy is the core of the course. Students will understand the power-flow implications for conflict, coexistence, or collaboration among the policy actors in diverse governance settings in the EU member states. The problem of formulation, implementation, and daily administration of policies (with emphasis on migrant integration policies) creates the course's overall framework.
Learning outcomes
The GAPPA course lays relevant foundations for 1) future policy-makers to critically assess volatile relations among the policy actors while formulating and implementing particular policies and 2) future social workers to evaluate the institutional and organizational conditions of their work with individuals, groups, and communities more critically. Students will (1) be familiar with general governance concepts, (2) understand the multiplicity of interactions creating the interplay among the policy actors, and (3) reveal how diverse kinds of power shape the formulation, implementation, or administration of particular policies.
Syllabus
  • General concepts:
  • Governance, government, and the people
    Vertical (multi-level) governance
    Horizontal (multi-sector) governance
    Diagonal governance
    Institutional settings of governance
  • Agency and Policy Actors:
  • Agency of policy actors
    Formulation, implementation, and administration of policies
    Diverse governance settings and agency of policy actors
  • Power, conflict, coexistence, and collaboration:
  • Coercive, institutional, and ideational power
    Power relations and their legitimacy in diverse governance settings
    Conflict, coexistence, and collaboration among policy actors
  • Conclusion:
  • Closing lesson: Lessons learned
Literature
    required literature
  • Lukes, S. (2005). Power: A Radical View (2nd ed.). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Carstensen, M.B. & Schmidt, V.A. (2016). Power through, over and in ideas: conceptualizing ideational power in discursive institutionalism. Journal of European Public Policy, 23(3), 318-337.
  • Nagel, S. S. (2020). Encyclopedia of policy studies. CRC Press.
  • Hill, M., & Varone, F. (2021). The public policy process. Routledge.
  • Mazur, S. (Ed.). (2020). Public Administration in Central Europe: Ideas as Causes of Reforms. Taylor & Francis Group.
  • Reay, T., Zilber, T.B., Langley, A., & Tsoukas, H. (2019). Institutions and organizations: A process view. Oxford University Press.
  • Levi-Faur, D. (2012). The Oxford Handbook of Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Peters, B.G., & Zittoun, P. (2016). Contemporary Approaches to Public Policy. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Torfing, J., Peters, B. G., Pierre, J., & Sørensen, E. (2012). Interactive governance: Advancing the paradigm. Oxford university Press.
Teaching methods
Lectures, reading, class discussion, group projects
Assessment methods
Written assignments (partial and seminar) and oral examination of continuous work in exercises, the aim of which is to practice the information acquired through readings and lectures
Language of instruction
Czech
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