ACTIVITY REPORT
Katarina Staronova, 2002 IP Fellow
Issue Area: Public Policy Process
Topic: Cultural Change into Professional Policy Making: The Case of Slovakia


1.    Research Activity:
March – April 2002
•    Participation at the NISPAcee Conference in Krakow, Poland, April 25 – 27
“Delivering Public Services in Cee Countries: Trends and Developments”
-    presentation of a paper with L. Malikova “Coalition Governments in Slovakia” in Working Group on politico-administrative relations
-    discussion with academicians and representatives of OECD on issues of good governance and policy making on central level of government

•    Refining methodology with mentors
•    Background Research on policy processes and good governance principles
-    material of OECD, UNDP, EU
-    theories on policy making processes

•    Development of Interview Protocol

May – August 2002
•    Fieldwork in Slovakia: data collection through personal interviews with the civil servants at the central level of the government (methodology as well as the list of interviewees is provided in the interim research report):
-    Ministry of Justice
-    Ministry of Education
-    Ministry of Labor
-    Office of the Government
-    Advisors and Members of the Working Groups / Committees
-    EC Delegation
-    Foreign Donor Organizations (ABA CEELI, OSF)

•    Participation at Summer School in Berlin, Germany, July 1-7
    “Assessing the Quality of Governance: Developing the Common Assessment Framework for CEE Countries”

•    Research trip to UK, August 16 - 21
-    Meeting with officials at Audit Commission
-    Meeting with officials at Cabinet Office, Performance and Innovation Unit
-    Library research in Oxford, London

•    Analysis of the data from the fieldwork research and preparation of draft research paper: Analysis of policy making processes in Slovakia

Junior Scholar at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, September - December 2002
•    Backgroud research in WWIC
-  research on theoretical issues of good governance, policy making and innovation studies: Library of Congress,
-  discussion with scholars, civil servants in Washington D.C. and representatives of the think-tanks
-  meetings and interviews in the World Bank
-  member of the informal working group "Civil Society in Transitional Countries", concerned with issues of transition in Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America: presentation of the research paper

•  Study trip to Monterey Institute of Insternational Studies
- meeting with mentor Leslie Eliason, discussion and finalization of the research paper
- meeting with students and presentation on methodological aspects of preparing research papers
- research in the library

•  Study trip to New York
- meetings and interviews at UN
- meetings and interviews at Columbia University, New York University, New School of Social Sciences

January - March, 2003
•   Discussion with Katarina Mathernova (policy fellow and former advisor to Vice Prime Minister for Economy) on preparing a joint policy paper

•    Research trip to Berlin, Germany
-    Meeting with officials from Federal Ministry of Interior where a new program on the modernization of the administration has been launched
-    Meeting with officials from Press and Information Office of the Federal Government
-    Meeting with professors at University of Potsdam
-    Library research Berlin

•    Research trip to Amsterdam, the Netherlands
-   Meeting with officials from the European Institute for Public Administration
-   Interviews and Discussion at the Central Government offices
-   Library research in Amsterdam

•    Participation at Final Seminar for Policy Fellows in Budapest, Hungary

•    Finalizing the Recommendations in the Policy Paper

2.    Publication Activity:
•    “Politico-administrative Relations under Coalition Governments in Slovakia.” co-authored L. Malikova, in Verheijen T., Vass L. (eds.) Coalition Politics. Bratislava: NISPAcee (2003: to be published)
•    Co-author in Úspešná a úsporná vláda (Policy Options for Effective and Efficient Governing), Beblavý, Salner (eds.), Bratislava: SGI, 2002. (in Slovak)
http://www.governance.sk/index_en.html
•    Co-author in Manuál verejnej politiky (Public Policy Manual), Beblavý (ed.) Bratislava: SGI, 2002 . (in Slovak)
http://www.governance.sk/index_en.html

3. Other
•  Member of the working group at the Ministry of Justice for the reform of the legislative process (from January 2003)

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