COURSE INFORMATION Course Title: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN DEMOCRATIC STATES

Code	Course Type	Regular Semester	Theory	Practice	Lab	Credits	ECTS
PIR 362	B	6	2	2	0	3	6

Academic staff member responsible for the design of the course syllabus (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature)	Dr. Dea Haxhiu dbashkurti@epoka.edu.al
Main Course Lecturer (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours:	Dr. Dea Haxhiu dbashkurti@epoka.edu.al , Monday 10:00-12:30
Second Course Lecturer(s) (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours:	NA
Language:	English
Compulsory/Elective:	Compulsory
Study program: (the study for which this course is offered)	Bachelor in Political Science and International Relations (3 years)
Classroom and Meeting Time:
Teaching Assistant(s) and Office Hours:	NA
Code of Ethics:	Code of Ethics of EPOKA University Regulation of EPOKA University "On Student Discipline"
Attendance Requirement:
Course Description:	This graduate level course will cover the essentials of contemporary public administration in democratic states. The course covers a wide variety of topics, from the way in which public administration is organised, to the strategies of increasing its efficiency and effectiveness. The course starts with basic knowledge on how to understand and study public administration, to recap what students’ have learned before on the topic. The course moves to public policy, unpacking the policymaking process and exploring the power relations that underpin government’s preferences and explain its decision-making process. It also covers issues related to organisational culture, values and social norms that guide day-to-day decisions. This course ends by exploring the importance of performance evaluation and the ways in which public service can be improved to promote accountability and strengthen democracy.
Course Objectives:	This course provides an in-depth exploration of the role of public administration in democratic states. It examines the theoretical foundations, structures, and practices of public administration, highlighting the challenges and opportunities faced by government institutions in democratic societies. Students will analyze how public administration functions within a democratic framework, emphasizing principles such as accountability, transparency, efficiency, and responsiveness. The course also covers topics related to the relationship between elected officials, public servants, and citizens, and the role of public institutions in ensuring good governance.

BASIC CONCEPTS OF THE COURSE

1	Public Administration Public administration is the implementation of government policies and the management of public programs and services. It involves the organization, management, and operation of government agencies and institutions that serve the public interest.
2	Democratic Governance Democratic governance refers to the system of government where power is vested in the people, who exercise it directly or through elected representatives. Public administration functions within the framework of democratic principles such as accountability, transparency, and participation.
3	Bureaucracy Bureaucracy refers to a hierarchical system of administration in which decisions and policies are made by appointed officials, rather than elected representatives. In democratic states, bureaucrats are typically expected to serve the public impartially, efficiently, and transparently.
4	Accountability Accountability in public administration means that public officials and administrators are responsible for their actions, decisions, and use of public resources. It involves mechanisms such as oversight by elected representatives, transparency, and public scrutiny.
5	Transparency Transparency refers to the openness of government actions, decisions, and processes. In democratic systems, public institutions must make their activities visible and accessible to citizens to ensure trust and allow public participation in decision-making.
6	Public Policy Public policy refers to the decisions and actions taken by government authorities to address societal issues. It includes laws, regulations, and programs aimed at achieving specific objectives, such as economic growth, education, healthcare, and social justice.
7	Civil Service The civil service is a body of government employees who are hired based on merit and are expected to be politically neutral. They play a central role in the functioning of public administration by carrying out day-to-day government operations.
8	Good Governance Good governance refers to the effective, efficient, and equitable management of public affairs, based on democratic principles such as transparency, accountability, responsiveness, and the rule of law.
9	Political Neutrality Political neutrality refers to the principle that public servants and civil servants should not be influenced by political parties or ideologies in their duties. This ensures that government services are provided impartially and objectively.
10	Public Sector Reform Public sector reform involves efforts to improve the performance, efficiency, and responsiveness of government institutions. This may include changes to administrative structures, processes, and policies to enhance public service delivery.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week	Topics
1	Introduction of the Course and its Objectives
2	Accountability and Democratic Administration. The quality or state of being accountable; an obli gation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions; being accountable for and responsible for one’s past or current actions and inactions; answerable to authorities, people, and stakeholders for one’s past and cur rent behaviors and inactions. Pg. 60
3	Public Values in Public Organizations. General principles which can be used to describe a person, profession, or organization may be referred to as core values. Values provide a philo sophical guide to a code of conduct and help organizations determine what is right from what is fast, fun, or easy. Pg. 11095
4	Centralization and Decentralization. There are two processes for the regulation and enforcement of public services and public power: centraliz(s)ation and decentraliz(s)ation. Pg. 1444
5	Budgeting and Decision Making. Budgeting is the essential part of financial man agement in which sometimes has nonfinancial measures and targets. A decision-making process within the public sector might be a political process in harmonizing varied/conflicting interests among constituents. Pg. 930
6	Principles of Good Governance. Principles of good governance are those rules that enable to guarantee the greatest possible demo cratic status and the achievement of the objectives in governance. Pg. 10085
7	Institutional Theory of Organizations. The institutional theory of organizations puts institutions at the core of the analysis of organizations’ design and conduct. Pg. 6789
8	Midterm exam
9	Public-Private Partnership and Governance. Public-Private Partnerships, also known as PPP, are contracts amid government agencies and pri vate organizations that involve the government agency paying, reimbursing, or transferring a pub lic asset to the private sector in return for goods or services over a set period. Pg. 11109
10	E-Government, Accountability, and Performance.Definition of e-government: the use of informa tion and communication technologies (ICT) and particularly the Internet, as a tool to achieve better government. Pg. 3724
11	Public Corruption. Public corruption damages the institutions neces sary for effective democratic governance. Corrup tion is not a new problem; long before democracy was in vogue, corruption of public authorities existed. Pg. 105999
12	Public Interest in Government Institutions. Serving the public is a fundamental mission of government institutions. This duty transforms a civic ideal into a responsibility for government managers. Globally, public officers occupy prom inent and prestigious positions in their communi ties and society at large to offer citizenry benefit. Pg. 10674
13	Governance in Crisis Management. Governance is a term that is used in a variety of contexts. The goal of this chapter is to provide an overview of crisis and disaster management and how it is related to multiple aspects of governance. Pg. 5846
14	Presentation of the students project, revision of the course

Prerequisite(s):
Textbook(s):	Farazmand, A. (Ed.). (2023). Global encyclopedia of public administration, public policy, and governance. Springer Nature.
Additional Literature:
Laboratory Work:
Computer Usage:
Others:	No

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

1	Analyze the Role of Public Administration: Understand and critically assess the functions and roles of public administration in democratic states, including its contribution to effective governance.
2	Evaluate Administrative Structures: Examine various public administration structures and their relevance to democratic governance, including the distinction between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
3	Discuss Democratic Principles in Public Administration: Demonstrate knowledge of how principles like transparency, accountability, and participation influence decision-making processes in public administration.
4	Understand Policy Implementation: Assess how public administrators manage policy implementation in democratic contexts, and identify the challenges they face in ensuring policies are enacted efficiently and equitably.
5	Examine Bureaucratic Accountability: Critically evaluate the mechanisms that ensure public administration remains accountable to the people, including legislative oversight, public scrutiny, and the role of independent institutions.
6	Explore the Role of Citizen Participation: Analyze how citizen participation is incorporated into public policy-making and administration in democratic systems, and how it affects legitimacy and responsiveness.
7	Identify Challenges in Public Administration: Identify the major challenges that public administrators face in a democracy, such as political pressure, budget constraints, corruption, and maintaining public trust.

COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO... PROGRAM COMPETENCIES (Blank : no contribution, 1: least contribution ... 5: highest contribution)

No	Program Competencies	Cont.
Bachelor in Political Science and International Relations (3 years) Program
1	Having and using advanced knowledge and comprehension supported by textbooks including actual knowledge in political sciences and international relations literature, materials and the other scientific resources.	5
2	Analyzing data, ideas and concepts of current political issues and international relations, determining complex events and topics, making discussions and developing new suggestions in accordance with researches.	5
3	Having knowledge and thought about actual topics and problems together with their historical, social and cultural aspects.	5
4	Introducing those who are interested in politics and international events with the topics of Political Science and IR and teaching clearly the problems and the types of solutions.	4
5	Improving skills of working together with the main social science disciplines and other disciplines which are related to Political Science and International Relations.	4
6	Improving critical thinking and skills in making research independently.	5
7	Developing solutions about the problems and conflicts which are common in national and international arena.	4
8	Improving skills for leadership and research and analyze capacity of those who is responsible with national and international ones.	4
9	Knowing any foreign language enough to communicate with colleagues and understand actual researches and articles.	3
10	Gaining IT skills to use computer and technology) in order to reach actual knowledge.	1
11	Gaining skills to follow societal, scientific and ethic values during collecting, interpreting, conducting of data related to social and political developments.	3
12	Having consciousness about human rights and environment.	2
13	Gaining the skills to follow actual developments and pursue long-life learning.	4

COURSE EVALUATION METHOD

Method	Quantity	Percentage
Midterm Exam(s)	1	35
Project	1	15
Final Exam	1	40
Attendance		10
	Total Percent:	100%

ECTS (ALLOCATED BASED ON STUDENT WORKLOAD)

Activities	Quantity	Duration(Hours)	Total Workload(Hours)
Course Duration (Including the exam week: 16x Total course hours)	16	3	48
Hours for off-the-classroom study (Pre-study, practice)	14	3	42
Mid-terms	1	20	20
Assignments	1	15	15
Final examination	1	25	25
Other			0
Total Work Load:			150
Total Work Load/25(h):			6
ECTS Credit of the Course:			6

CONCLUDING REMARKS BY THE COURSE LECTURER