European Public Administration - Fall Semester

Public Management – 15 EC

The module focuses on the core domain of public management. It integrates concepts and theories from different disciplines (organisation sociology, economics, and management) in order to prepare students to understand and address the challenges posed by the management of public sector organisations. During this module, students investigate issues related to organisation and management of public and semi-public organisations, with special attention being paid to the management of the public procurement. Efficiency, effectiveness and legitimacy are the main elements that frame the access to, and use of resources in the public sector organisations. Moreover, the interactions between public, non-profit, and private organisations have come to characterize the process of using resources. While “getting more done with less (resources)” is an often repeated slogan, the fundamental issue that lays behind it is “how to organize the use of resources as effective and efficient as possible, given the accountability and transparency (that is, legitimacy) conditions to which public organisations need to answer?”. Students will analyse an organisation in context, especially the relation between management strategy and organisational performance, through document analysis and interviews (analysis level).

Public Governance in Europe – 15 EC

This module introduces students to the comparative governance of complex social problems related to inequality and poverty. The European Union faces the challenge of addressing common European concerns while respecting national diversity. This is particularly true in the case of employment and social protection systems that are deep-rooted in different national systems and policy legacies. Some countries seem to be coping more successfully with the current social challenges such as growing inequality and social exclusion than others, which has provoked the search for a common European solution or best practice. This module alerts students on dynamics, challenges and possibilities of governing unity within diversity. At heart of this module is a project about creating a social regulation (minimum income directive) for the European Union. To be able to create effective and legitimate solutions for governing inequalities at the EU level, groups of students will analyse the diverse political and regulatory regimes in Europe and link these macro level institutions to the outcomes at micro level. Based on these analyses, an effective and legitimate European solution for preventing social exclusion will be negotiated in a simulation of European Union decision-makings procedure.