Governance and Public Administration

In this group, three broad research themes are engaged with. First, recent innovations in the formats of public governance are studied from the perspectives of governance networks, (ICT-enabled) co-production of public services, and polycentric governance arrangements. Research under this heading concentrates on both effectiveness and democratic credibility of various public service designs. Second, good governance promotion and public sector institutional reforms in non-democratic and democratizing countries are studied with an emphasis on the EU’s Eastern Neighborhood. Projects under this heading aim to investigate why certain institutional reforms succeed or fail in diverse institutional contexts and match various reform environments with distinct assistance strategies for evidence-based policymaking and implementation. Third, a separate stream of scholarship focuses on issues and challenges in Estonian public administration. Scholarship under this heading centers on designing and implementing various public policies, programs, and initiatives in Estonia, covering areas like public participation, evidence-based policy-making, collaborative models, service design, etc.

Heads of the research field: Kristiina Tõnnisson, Kristina Muhhina