The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly reshaped administrative relations and put emphasis on the digital transformation of public administration that is urgently needed to support a sustainable recovery from the pandemic crisis and future sustainable development in the post-pandemic era. This paper presents a comparative study on the ways the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic impacted general administrative authorities on the local level with respect to various aspects of their functioning and digitalization in five European countries. With a sample of 926 respondents from the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Romania, and Slovenia, the study shows that the pandemic-imposed changes are very similar in these countries. The results reveal that, except for Germany, the biggest problems of pandemic-related regulations are their obscurity. For all countries under study, parties to the procedures are shown to be the main driver of digitalization and not the public administration itself, generally lagging behind in this sense. Nevertheless, the pandemic has also created several potential opportunities, whereby public managers, especially in Germany, have acknowledged the importance of digitalization right after the protection of health, as confirmed by the wider use of ICT equipment, particularly in Germany and the Czech Republic. Moreover, Germany and Romania exhibit the greatest potential to accelerate digitalization. Finally, the critical factors influencing accelerated digitalization after the pandemic are also identified. The paper’s evidence-based findings could prove useful while formulating recommendations for the sustainable practices of public administrations during this and any future pandemic crisis.

This study aimed to analyse the impact of digitalisation on good governance with respect to selected local public administrations during the COVID-19 lockdown in the spring of 2020. The overriding assumption made is that agile values mediate the relationship between digitalisation and good governance on this level of public administration. Data were obtained through a web-based survey conducted between June and August 2020. The empirical analysis was facilitated by applying partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) on a sample of 761 public managers from five Central European countries (Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Romania, Slovenia). The results show that digitalisation acted as an essential driver of good governance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three out of four agile values—“employees and internal relationships”, “working public services”, and “change management”—were also shown to help make digitalisation more effective and thereby facilitate good governance. Despite some limitations (e.g., respondents’ subjective evaluations, the study only being performed during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the observed countries with different situations and consequent measures in response, and differences in the broader environment and local administration systems in the studied countries), the findings of the study are important given the lack of similar empirical studies. Public administrations should be digitalised and reformed in a way that ensures that they effectively and efficiently design, implement, measure, and continuously improve their strategies, tactics, and services, which can all be accomplished by being agile. The paper offers insights into: (1) the lessons learnt about the nature of digitalised public services/processes and agile management approaches in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and their impact on good governance; and (2) proposals for policymakers and managers in public administrations with regard to operating in extreme VUCA circumstances in any next wave of COVID-19 pandemic or in a new pandemic/public health disaster.

This paper aims to analyze the development of the rule of law and its key characteristics as a principle within public governance model (PGM) research. In the study, we analyzed two main EU cultural and geographical subgroups, selected old and new EU member states, in order to identify the main convergences and differences characteristic of the respective clusters. With the accession to the European Union, these acceding countries were to transfer EU law into national law and reform their governance models accordingly. The aim of the research was achieved by following an original methodology, encompassing 431 relevant scientific papers from the Scopus database. Th e known QDA Miner 5.0.11 soft ware package was selected as the main tool for the analysis. Th e research questions were aimed at covering: (i) the role of the rule of law as one of the key governance principles in relation to the countries’ historical legacy and different governance models, (ii) the relationship between the rule of law and other governance principles and (iii) opportunities for further research within the two selected geographical subgroups. The results, concerning the first research question, reveal a greater frequency of papers per year about the relevant PGM studies focusing on the old EU member states. Likely, due to a broader socio-administrative tradition within these countries, law-related topics are better covered. As regards the relationship between the rule of law and other governance principles, we have shown that the rule of law as a principle is importantly related to effective governance and PA reforms and must not be taken as an antipode to efficiency. In new EU MS, i.e. Central and East Europe (CEE), in particular the rule of law in administrative relations is also one of the salient elements of the on-going transitional development compared to the old Western democracies. However, within the processes of privatization, globalization and marketization, the rule of law is challenged; even with PAR that might undermine the core principles of democratic governance. While demanding further research, encompassing specific socio-economic needs of individual public administrations and an evaluation of legal and related highly important reform preconditions proves vital for tomorrow’s public administration, more effectively and efficiently coping with the needs of the modern society.

Administrative procedures (APs) are tools to protect fundamental human rights in statecitizen relations. As the modernization of public administration regulation is undergoing a transformation in the direction of reducing detailed rules on APs and, by the same token, emphasizing fundamental or general principles, research on the development and the state of the art of administrative principles in the general administrative procedure acts (APAs) of selected Eastern Europe countries with a common heritage of Austrian law dating back to 1925 (Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and the Czech Republic) was carried out. The normative-comparative analysis reveals differences in approaches to and the pace of APAs reform and content; some countries are taking a more radical approach, mainly by following good governance dimensions. Convergence based on Council of Europe and EU initiatives is also evident. Classical guarantees against the misuse of power (principles of legality, equality, proportionality, rights of defense, etc.) are therefore crucial. The most progress seems to have been made by Croatia and the Czech Republic; by focusing on partnerships in administrative-legal relations in the sense of good administration, these two countries have, among other things, set a trend for other countries to follow.

This paper analyses the impact of the use of digital communication tools in administrative procedures on the effectiveness of local administrative authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic. It considers COVID-19-driven changes in the legal competence of the institutional unit and administrative authorities’ orientation to good governance as mediators of this relationship. By applying partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to survey data (N = 610) from five central European countries, we show that the accelerated use of digitalized communication tools driven by the COVID-19 situation has a positive effect on the effectiveness of local administrative authorities. Our data also indicate that the new laws, instructions and good governance driven by the COVID-19 situation – based on mostly convergent administrative traditions and European trends – partially mediate the relationship between the use of digital communication tools and administrative effectiveness. These findings do not significantly differ between participating countries and bureaucratic traditions. Consequently, the COVID-19 crisis proved to be a joint facilitator of responsive public governance that remained compliant with the rule of law, regardless of whether the national administrative systems were traditionally more legalistically or managerially oriented.

This paper analyses the role and significance of the selected factors for the successful design and implementation of public policies in Slovenia and more broadly. Based on structured interviews and content analysis of the responses, we investigated the impact of predefined factors (i.e. strategic, institutional, normative, economic/financial, methodological/procedural, organisational/human resources/ICT support factors). The aim of the article is to analyse the case of Slovenia, to identify which factors contribute most to the successful design and implementation of public policies, and to provide a basis for comparison with similar countries or systems. The research findings imply several conclusions, particularly strategic factors, which have been identified as the most essential. The other findings are related to the lack of evaluation practice, the discontinuity of and early changes in government, which affect all aspects of policy execution and lead to poor intersectoral collaboration as well as insufficient and ineffective public debate. Not surprisingly, all of the identified hindrances are featured in the pertinent theories as necessary democratic dimensions of contemporary public governance. Contrary to the national context, the EU influence seems to expedite policymaking processes and contribute to the consistency of policies.