Issue ? 30. February 2012

Administrative Science in Post-communist Countries: Problems of Methodology

Ph.D., associate professor (Poltava, Ukraine).

The article examines the problems of scientific support for the transformation of society in post-communist countries, in particular - the creation and development of modern public administration. The obkect of the author’s investigation is the methodology of public administration science. Its peculiarities, areas of research, achievements and shortcomings are analyzed. It is emphasized that the reforms complicate the society as a system, integrate and differentiate social structures, increasing their complexity, modifying traditional management problems and lead to the emergence of new ones. The author concludes that it is fundamentally impossible to develop a unified concept of transformations, since pluralism in public life and politics demands pluralism in science as well, and the search for an optimal model of administration is a continuous process. Therefore, the complexity, the dialectic, taking into account the correlation of traditions and innovations, the general laws and national features, and the relationship between science and practice are required.

Keywords

Post-communist transformation, post-communist countries, science of public administration, methodology.