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The paper analyses the impact of regulatory policy on the development of sustainable flexible packaging in the food manufacturing industry. Although sustainable packaging is not new on the market, its development still poses various challenges for raw material producers, flexible packaging printers, food manufacturers, and other stakeholders. The study highlights the issues related to the development of sustainable flexible food packaging, the concept of sustainable packaging, and the regulatory policies of the European Union and Lithuania on sustainable flexible packaging. An empirical study was carried out to determine the impact of regulatory policy on the intention of food producers to develop and invest in sustainable flexible packaging. A qualitative research method - semi-structured interviews - was used. The results of the empirical study show that regulatory policy has an impact on the food industry's ambition to develop sustainable flexible packaging, although the effect can be twofold – it can either encourage compliance with the regulatory framework defined by the legislation or burden companies with excessive requirements. In this research, respondents also identified other components that affect the development of sustainable flexible packaging in the food manufacturing industry: consumers and other stakeholders, marketing. The level of environmental awareness was also highlighted as an important factor in the analysis of the empirical data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on soldiers enrolled in permanent compulsory initial military service in Lithuania and analyses their service motivation and attitudes to threats to national security. The article identifies the motives for joining permanent compulsory initial military service and highlights the fact that young people’s choice of permanent compulsory initial military service is most often driven by individual motives. In order to compare the results, representative surveys were conducted in 2018 and 2023. The empirical data suggest that the perception of the main threat to national security identified by troops as an economic threat remained unchanged between 2018 and 2023. However, in 2023, soldiers grew somewhat more aware of the threat of military aggression. In 2018, volunteers differed significantly from conscript forces in their determination to engage in national defense. The expected determination to engage in national defense at a time of an increased military threat did not significantly increase in 2023 compared to 2018; moreover, the attitudes of volunteers and conscripts failed to converge. However, 2023 saw a significant increase in conscripts’ service motivation and an improvement in their assessment of the National Defence Volunteer Forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to find out the rhetoric of Lithuanian presidential candidates during the 2009, 2014 and 2019 election campaigns with respect to Russia and its threat to Lithuania’s national security, as well as how candidates’ rhetoric changed when comparing these three election campaigns. The 2009, 2014 and 2019 elections as the research object were chosen because the 2009 and 2014 elections were held just a few months after the beginning of the Russo-Georgian War in 2008 and the annexation of Crimea and the beginning of the war in Donbas in 2014, while the 2019 Lithuanian presidential election took place amidst the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. In order to answer the research question, an analysis of candidates’ election programs and speeches during televised debates broadcasted by the Lithuanian National Broadcaster before all three elections, was performed. Comparative analysis of the election campaigns has shown that there was a significant shift in candidates’ rhetoric regarding Russia, Lithuania’s bilateral relations with Russia, and the assessment of the threat posed by Russia to Lithuania’s national security when comparing the 2009, 2014 and 2019 presidential elections. In 2014 and 2019, unlike in 2009, the majority of candidates began to refer to Russia as an aggressor country that posed a security threat to Lithuania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research paper is to examine the career prospects of female soldiers in the Lithuanian Armed Forces. The article tackles the concept of career and legal regulation of careers in the military. The empirical part of the paper is based on an original survey of female noncommissioned officers’ opinion, which was conducted at the end of 2019 at the command of the Mechanized Infantry Brigade "Iron Wolf". The opinion of female non-commissioned officers showed that the legal basis of career making for all soldiers in the Lithuanian Armed Forces is the same for both women and men, but some of the participants in the study pointed out that this is not sufficiently relevant to pregnant women and women on maternity leave, as, for example, women on maternity leave are often transferred to the personnel reserve, and their positions are filled by other soldiers, etc. The respondents’ opinion on women’s opportunities to pursue a career in the Lithuanian Armed Forces compared to men was divided, as some of the respondents believed that women and men have equal opportunities in all areas of their professional activities, while others stated that opportunities are equal only in administration, service and similar areas. It was found that some female NCOs find it difficult to pursue a vertical military career on equal terms with men, that few female soldiers are in senior positions in the army, in other words, women often face the phenomenon of the ‘glass ceiling’ when pursuing vertical careers. In contrast, there are better opportunities for women soldiers to pursue horizontal careers in the army. Factors that encourage women’s careers in the military include their personal motivation and financial, material and non-material incentives, while those that hinder them include the stereotypes that still exist in the military, the personalities of commanders, the exclusion of women from decision-making processes, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate emotional responses to radical introduction of new tenurebased pay system in Lithuania. The research is focused on the period of time from change initiative introduction to very fist attempts to implement it in organizations. Through qualitative inquiry, this research identified the course and dynamics of emotional states experienced by teachers. The paper is based on proposition that emotional responses should follow the pater outline in Kubler-Ross (Cameron & Green, 2009) model. However, the empirical results showed that teacher's resistance to and rejection of change even increased, due to such factors as high publicity, lack of internal communication, and due to very short implementation time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to disclose youth assessment of Lithuanian housing policy. The paper discusses housing policy and the youth housing challenges. The empirical part of the paper is based on the Lithuanian youth original empirical research results "Housing Provision for the Youth in Lithuania: Opportunities and Problems" carried out in 2017-2018. This research was carried out in the framework of the project" Housing Provision for the Youth: Processes, Problems and Solutions in Lithuania (JABS)" (GER 007/17) funded by the Lithuanian Science Council National Research Program "Welfare Society". The results of the survey research revealed that Lithuanian housing policy young people assess rather unfavourably. According to the respondents there is a lack of more active State role and regulation of housing policy, housing policy regulation, more effective action against "shadow" housing rental. Analysis of the research results according to the social demographics characteristics indicated that women are tend to stress more State support for the first housing provision, cash benefits and compensations for housing maintenance. Moreover, 30-35 years old persons indicated more State support for the first housing provision than representatives of the other youth age groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theory of sustainable development has become a key concept according to which the European Union and other developed countries have been formulating the long term agricultural policy over the past few decades. Applying this theory into practice, the challenges which derive from the integrity of the objectives of sustainable development are being faced. The different achievements of various countries indicate that the effectiveness of sustainable development policy depends not only on how the various levels of institutions manage to reconcile environmental, social and economic objectives but also on whether the system of sustainability assessment immediately signalizes about the lack of implementation of the measures and creates the prerequisites for a timely policy review. This paper, by applying the different models of sustainable development, presents the principles for developing a system of sustainability assessment of agriculture with a focus on the identification of sustainability constraints arising in relation to insufficient reproduction of environmental, human and manmade capital. The system of sustainability assessment of agriculture in this paper is based on the interdependence of environmental, social and economic factors and aims to determine the causes of unsustainable development and allows to define the contribution and need for an intervention of the various levels of institutions in the implementation of sustainable agricultural development policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper introduced here focuses on the particularities of Lithuanian political parties' discourse on European integration. The questions which this paper seeks to answer are: how much ‘Europe’ actually figures into parties' national election manifestos and what parties says about the nature of the European polity and the policy objectives to be implemented by the EU? The results of the analysis show that, although in principle there is a support to the European integration, political parties follow the logic of instrumental rationality containing strategic actions and specific domestic interest implementation in the united Europe. These contradictions may lead to the inconsistencies of party politics toward European integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analizes the esential shift in the structure of the economy from industrial to service-dominated economy and the impact of the increasing role of the service sector to the development of economic system and effectiveness of current economic regulation means. Two key theories are dealing with structural changes - deindustrialization theory and postindustrial economy theory. There are distinct research communities providing different perspectives on the rationale, design and delivery of the economic development and economic regulation. The comparative analysis provide an integrative and organising lens for viewing the various contributions to knowledge production from those research communities addressing economic regulation directions and means. The first part of the paper presents a critical assessment of the recomendations to the employment and equality policy makers provided by the deindustrialization theory developing research community. The second part of the paper is devoted for the evaluation of the post-industrial theory perspectives to develop service-dominated economy. This study provides three main trends in economic regulation, which are identified as main accelerators of the economic system evolution, namely: i) creation and maintenance of information-communication infrastructure; ii) servitization of manufacturing and agriculture, and iii) essential reform of educational system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses waste management policy development applying circular economy model and study its possibilities in Lithuania. The first part of this paper is dedicated to waste management policy concept, its dynamic analysis, circular economy model influence on waste management and waste management tools ident ification. The part of research analyses formation of waste management policy using circle economy in Lithuania. Used qualitative research based analysis of formed Lithuanian waste management policy using circle economy model. Project has found that currently formed waste management policy using circle economy or not targeted and systematic corrections are needed in order to achieve ambitious goals of the model. Identification of corrections and their practical appliance in policy formation would probably not only lead to the achievement of circle economy goals in Lithuania, but also would contribute to the targeted waste management policy formation on national, regional and local levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2006, the Regulations for Electronic Document Management came into force in Lithuania and started to be applied in the public sector. These regulations define the concept of electronic documents and provide a model for their management. Shortly afterwards, the description of requirements for specifications with regard to electronically signed documents was adopted, and both the first electronic document (equalled to manuscripts) specification, ADOC-V-1, and the electronic document (read by computer) specification MDOC-V-1 were published. Public institutions in Lithuania started implementing document management systems and faced challenges in relation to the application of electronic signatures. The year 2016 marks the 10th anniversary of the application of regulations for electronic document management. This article examines the legal regulation of official electronic document management in Lithuania, including the set of formats for such documents. The relationship between official electronic documents and electronically produced ones is also defined. The terms “an electronic document” and “a document in electronic form” are used in Lithuanian legal acts. However, the content of these terms is different, and this raises certain issues with regard to the interpretation and application of legal provisions. The exchange of electronic documents plays an important role in the development of the uniform practice of electronic document management in state and municipal institutions, and in other agencies and enterprises. The specifications for official electronic documents ensure coordination at the level of documents (in terms of their formats). However, in the Lithuanian legal system, the coordination of electronic document forms and the exchange of different formats for official electronic documents is not ensured. This article therefore suggests introducing appropriate changes to legal regulation. Electronic documents enhance the interdisciplinary and inter-institutional nature of archives. There is a need to evaluate the management of these documents by employing theoretical and methodological provisions pertaining to various scientific fields. Electronic documents are to be investigated from the perspective of legal theory, information technologies, and archival science, which includes document management. Aside from paper documents, and video and audio recordings, the national archives started accumulating digital documents - those born digitally and digitalised ones, including information from Internet websites. The aim is to enable the Lithuanian archives to accept storage not only of documents (irrespective of the way they were produced), but also information systems data with a persistent (archival) value. The paper suggests that Lithuanian state archives, as well as the whole area of document and archive management, should be oriented towards a broader activity discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the conceptualization of party patronage. The analysis of the usage of the term party patronage reveals several challenges: scholars from different fields use different definitions of party patronage, in addition same phenomena can be described by different concepts making it difficult to compare data from different surveys or analysis. Furthermore the term itself must be revised continuously as it can become out dated due to changing aspects of party patronage in modern world. To clarify the usage of term party patronage it is important to define contiguous phenomenon such as clientelism, politicization, state capture, pork barrel and corruption. Hence this paper suggests slightly modified conceptualization used by Kopecky et al.: party patronage as power of political parties to make personnel decisions in the public sector for Lithuanian social sciences. Party patronage is defined by three dimensions: who makes the decision, what are the decisions and where those decisions are made? In case of party patronage political parties acts as collective patrons and they make decisions of the personnel matter (hiring, promoting and transferring of public servants) in public sector. This conceptualization enables to show differences between party patronage and contiguous phenomenon. In short clientelism should be understood as an electoral resource of the political party, while party patronage should be understood as an organizational and governmental resource. Concept of politicization is closely connected to party patronage, however politicization is more suitable for public administrative studies as it is directed to the separation of bureaucrats and politicians while party patronage in political science puts attention on the political power of parties to make personal decisions. State capture is defined as systematic influence of business to government in order to obtain favorable legal and regulatory decisions. Pork barrel politics means direction of funding and legislation towards certain constituency or geographical region. Corruption should be understood as abuse of authority and power for personal gain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to explain why modern public education initiatives in Lithuania do not deliver on expected results in spite of sufficient investments and government support. The paper focuses on institutional innovation in vocational education - the creation and management of Sectorial Practical Training Centres. Sectoral Practical Training Centres are primarily the instruments of the initial vocational education policy, seeking to improve and adjust the skills of the current and future workforce to the needs of private and public economy sectors. The article is based on proposition that newly created centres would be less exposed to administrative tradition, and should strive to employ modern management ideas, such as transformational leadership and employee empowerment. However, the empirical investigation revealed that there is a big lack of leadership, and managers rely on old-but-good administrative means. The employees stress that there is no support and feedback from management side; staff members do not see prospects for self-realization as well as for creativity and innovations. At the same time, the employees are keen to take more responsibility and to be more engaged in decision-making processes. The article concludes that one of the biggest obstacles for future organizational development is mismatch between current management practices and employees expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By focusing on the application of 6 Sigma this paper analyses the process of human resource management in Vilnius city municipality administration. With increasing requirements to servants and employees of publ ic institutions, the main attention should focus on unnecessary activities and the elimination of wastes. The purpose of article is to analyze the process of human resource management and to identify the criteria which would improve the management of human resources. According to the scientific literature analysis and qualitative research results of Vilnius City Municipality Administration, the article introduces wastes of the human resources management process and gives practical suggestions - how to improve the process of human resources management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The governmental promotion of culture philanthropy as a significant issue in culture policy is widely discussed in scientific literature. Many authors (Sulek 2010, Payton, 2000, etc.) argue that, though philanthropy concept has antique origins, at present still there is no comprehensive perception of its full meaning and no well-thought-out definition exists, thus, it is not astonishing that understanding of philanthropy is pretty much embedded in social, cultural and political settings. Culture philanthropy process involves different philanthropy actors - donors, intermediaries and recipients. The paper aims to discuss theoretical and practical aspects of culture philanthropy, using three differents approaches - perceptions by all three groups of actors in culture philanthropy. The paper analyses the concept of philanthropy as well as perceptions of culture policy in Lithuania. Data analysis is dwelling on the findings of the qualitative research conducted in 2014 on culture philanthropy actors' perceptions and experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses one of the municipal waste management system component - municipal biodegradable waste and evaluates its management's efficiency in Kaunas City Municipality. The first part of this paper is devoted to the waste management concept dynamics analysis, public government evaluation criteria and its methods identification, especially focusing on efficiency. The part of research evaluates the efficiency of the municipal biodegradable waste management system in 2013 which is ruled by Kaunas City Municipality. The main research object is an infrastructure of technical equipment of municipal biodegradable waste management system. Efficiency is valued using cost-effectiveness method. The study established that the currently existing system of municipal biodegradable waste management system is ineffective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1928-1931, annual consumption of legal pure alcohol per capita was just 1.17 litres, while in 2014 the alcohol consumption per capita was 12.7 litres. The alcohol outlet density is one of the most significant factors for the indicators of alcohol consumption. The aim of this paper is to compare the characteristics of the regulation of retail alcohol outlets in the First (1918-1940) and Second (1990-2015) Republic of Lithuania. The goals are the following: to evaluate the aspects of alcohol outlet density, expiration dates and issue conditions of seller licences, and the maintenance of public order of seller licence usage as well as assurance of safety in the neighbourhoods, and to determine the period of Seimas (governing parties) ruling during which fundamental changes occurred in the liberalization or prohibition with regards to regulation of alcohol outlets. The paper is based on the method of document analysis. It was determined that the regulation of alcohol outlets was much stricter in the period of the First Republic of Lithuania than in the period of the Second Republic. In the First Republic of Lithuania, the regulation of the density of alcohol outlets was connected to the assurance of public safety and prevention of noise, the community was involved in the regulation of the density of alcohol outlets, the density of alcohol outlets was regulated, the prohibited distances were defined between alcohol outlets and places of worship, cemeteries, healthcare and education establishments or other institutions significant to the public, the issued licences were short-term, for the period of one year. Even though in the period of the ruling of Antanas Smetona in 1934 the alcohol outlet regulation was liberalized, eliminating the influence of residents and municipalities on the issuing of licences, alcohol outlet regulation still remained stricter than in the period of the Second Republic of Lithuania. In 2002, the social-democratic coalition, which had the majority in the government, strongly liberalized the alcohol outlet regulation: it abolished any regulation of alcohol outlet density, eliminated short-term licences and authorised alcohol sales in sanatoriums, kiosks and petrol stations. Only the political group of Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian democrats, which had the majority in the Seimas of 2008-2012, managed to prohibit sales in kiosks and petrol stations, but the density remained unregulated, the licences were still short-term, the licencing was unconnected to public safety and assurance of public order, and the community's influence was restricted only to expression of opinion on the issuing of new alcohol seller licences in the blocks of flats they reside in. It is recommended to connect alcohol outlet regulation with public safety and assurance of public order, to regulate outlet density, to issue short-term licences, and to empower the residents to participate in the alcohol outlet regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is focused on the discussion about the role of nongovernmental organizations during the decisionmaking process in local governance and what factors influence it. To achieve this, the following steps have been made: first, the concept of nongovernmental organizations and their relationship with civil society was analyzed, then possible variations of relationship between nongovernmental organizations and their impact to the public sector was described. In the last part of the paper, the stages of the decision-making and implementation process in the municipality were analyzed and theoretical aspects of enabling NGOs were discussed. The analyses showed that the decisionmaking and implementation processes depend on the understanding of the need to cooperate, the ability of both subjects to work together, their relationship with citizens and other interest groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents public services consumers satisfaction index methodology application in Lithuania. First part od the paper is devoted to the analysis of the public services concept, theoretical and legal aspects of public services. Survey research is based on the public services consumers satisfaction methodology created in 2010. Results of the survey research carried out in Kaunas city municipality in 2013 were presented. Empirical basis of the research is based on 1832 Kaunas city inhabitants. Empirical research is based on 203 primary indicators. Out of 203 primary indicators using factor validity 8 scales, reflecting different types of public services were created. As a result created public services rating in Kaunas city and consumers satisfaction by public services map in Kaunas city administrative units. The research results revealed that the most positively evaluated cultural and educational, the less - territorial care services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research of citizen satisfaction in public services gained new relevance in Lithuania in 2009, when the Ministry of Interior added the assessment of customer satisfaction in public services as an instrument of public management quality policy. The paper seeks to answer how this top-down initiative is applied in practice and what kinds of problems arise. The object of analysis in the paper are two independent researches related to the assessment of satisfaction in public services, which were conducted in Kaunas in 2013 and produced markedly different results. The paper is based on the case of the assessment of the Customer Satisfaction Index of Kaunas City Centre of Social Services (CSS), which aims to uncover the factors that determined the disparity in the results. The analysis of the calculation methods for the satisfaction index of the services provided by the CSS has revealed that the methodology approved by the Lithuanian Minister of the Interior can be utilized at the municipal level for the satisfaction in general services used by the majority of city residents. The municipalities, which conduct centralized assessment of public services and wish to ensure objectivity must control that the satisfaction index indicator includes only the customers who have used the service. However, in this case one would face increased financial costs, which rise due to the process of ensuring the involvement of customers who have used services provided by separate institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many research papers on local self-government from 1990s till present in Lithuania. However, according to the author, there is a lack of research papers where the Lithuanian local self-government system would be analysed systematically. The author has published several articles in the academic journal Public Policy and Administration. In this article, the author, by way of creative analogy, presents his approach as to who is granted the right to (local) self-government and who enjoys this right (i.e., what is the subject of the right to (local) self-government) as well as explains who, in his opinion, enforces the right to (local) self-government and how. Summarizing the results, the author presents the following conclusions: 1. Interpreting the first paragraph of Article 119 of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania "The right to self-government shall be guaranteed to administrative units of the territory of the State, which are provided for by law. It shall be implemented through corresponding municipal councils", the following questions remain unanswered: what subject is guaranteed (granted) the right to (local) self-government? Is a municipal council really the only local authority through which the right to (local) self-government is implemented? 2. The systematic analysis of provisions on guaranteeing (granting) and implementing the right to (local) self-government, established in the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, rulings and decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Lithuania Law on Local Self-Government, and the European Charter of Local Self-Government, suggests that: (a) three subjects may be considered as the subjects of the right to (local) self-government in Lithuania; (b) the developers of the constitutional doctrine of (local) self-government chose the territorial (local) community as the subject of the right to (local) self-government by applying analogy (the Constitution stipulates that sovereignty belongs to the Nation); (c) by making the subject of the right to (local) self-government equal to the Nation State (sovereign that has the supreme power in the state), the developers of the doctrine applied the analogy in respect of the implementation of the right to (local) selfgovernment: they essentially saw the implementation of the right to (local) self-government and exercise of the supreme power in the municipality as the same, the latter being exercised through the representative municipal (self-government) institution. 3. It is stated that in Lithuania, which belongs to the countries with the continental legal system and where the theory of dual local self-government is followed for interpreting the origin of local municipalities and the nature and content of local self-government, the right to independently deal with local matters (or otherwise, right to (local) self-government in a wider sense) is guaranteed (granted) to the local municipality, an organised territorial social body that is composed of permanent residents in a territorial administrative unit established by law, that has the status of a public legal person and that has the competence established (defined) by the state. 4. Guaranteeing (granting) the right to self-government to the residents of the territorial administrative unit is a process lasting for a defined time rather than a single action of the state. During the process, major qualitative changes take place in the life of residents (to be accurate, in their communication and their governing) of the territorial administrative unit, and some decisions adopted and actions taken on the national level give shape to a territorial, organised social body (local municipality) that has a legal status and the competence defined by the state. 5. Creatively applying the analogy, it may be asserted that: a) the right to self-government (right to (local) self-government in a broader sense) belonging to a local municipality is the right of a territorial organised community (local municipality) and the real power to exist (act) as a legally independent, self-governing and autonomous social body; in this case, the subject of the right to (local) self-government (in a broader sense) is a local municipality, and (b) the right to self-government (right to (local) self-government in a narrower sense) belonging to a municipal community is the right of a municipal community as of a special local municipal structural element to directly or through a municipal council (representative body of a local municipality) exercise, in the ways prescribed, the supreme power in the local municipality when dealing with local (public) matters within the competence of the local municipality; in this case, the subject of the right to (local) self-government (in a narrower sense ) is a municipal community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides an overview of Lithuanian State Department activities in implementing competency models in Lithuanian public service. Based on the national strategic documents the project was initiated to implement competency models. The paper presents the factors and circumstances of the competency model implementation, as well as reasoned assumptions of creating such a model. The perspective of various possibilities of the competency model application in different human resources management areas is presented. A gradual transition from the traditional to the competency -based human resource management in Lithuania's civil service is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many authors, in order to help promoting effective public administration solutions, recently began investigating shadow economy and its psychosocial factors. It is argued that positive attidudes towards shadow economy could be related to high social economic in equality. This study aimed at identifying attitudes towards shadow economy and population‘s behaviors with a special focus on differences in different income groups. This paper presents some results of the survey (n=1001). The results revealed no statistically significant differences in different income quintiles groups and different subjective socio-economic status groups. Authors indicate that additional research is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the article is to reveal the efficiency of the activities of institutions controlling the monitoring of compliance with legal regulation of ethical principles of civil servants and compliance with “Law on the coordination of public and private interests in civil service”. The paper analyzes the concept of conflict of interest, legal management provisions of conflict of interest and mechanism for implementation monitoring of its enforcement, which is enshrined in Lithuanian legal acts. The article reveals data obtained from qualitative research that reflects the aspects of the activities of the institutions responsible for supervision and control of the implementation of the provisions of the Law on the coordination of public and private interests in the civil service. It is concluded that the legal regulation of conflict of interest creates preconditions for assurance of implementation of ethical principles, however lacks clarity and consistency in some cases. The absence of clear criteria for legal regulation of activity, effectiveness and results' evaluation of institutions responsible for monitoring compliance with provisions of the law, passivity of heads of local government institutions does not allow to achieve real progress in combating conflicts of interest and corruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adapting information and communication technologies (ICTs) to countries' development is one of the important criteria for economic and social progress and public policy priorities. However, implementing this ambitious concept faces social inequalities in the use of ICT, or digital exclusion. Lithuania has several decades of experience in utilizing the potential of ICT in managing strategic initiatives. Studies on the development of information society and digital exclusion show that attention is being focused on reducing the digital exclusion, but there is a lack of detailed analysis of the measures applied, the results achieved, the impact on specific social risk groups. The aim of the paper is to assess the strategic priorities and specific measures in Lithuania for reducing digital exclusion. The state approach to the digital exclusion is explored through qualitative and quantitative analysis of document content, which allows focusing only on the issue of digital exclusion reflected in them. The sources of this research data are Lithuanian strategic information policy documents. The most visible and consistent solution to the digital exclusion in Lithuania is the physical availability of ICTs in the regions. Significantly less is the problem of the digital exclusion associated with motivation, ability, and opportunities to benefit from ICT disparities. The priorities and directions of the Government and non-governmental organizations are very different in this area. In spite of the high level of gaps in the data found on analyzing the results and achievements of government-EU NGO programs and projects, the research presents some insights for future digital exclusion reduction programs and projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this article is to dispute the importance of qualitative approach in the research of public services. The paper analyzes theoretical and methodological fundamentals of public services research. The need for the development of qualitative tools is substantiated by revealing the core problems of organizing and evaluating public service delivery as well as theoretical dimensions of service-dominant logic. The first part of the paper examines public services research in Lithuania. The second part deals with indicators, disturbances and limitations of the evaluation of public services. Factors that should be analyzed toward service-dominant approach are discussed in the third chapter, and the importance of qualitative tools is motivated in the last one. This article is not intended to be anti-quantitative, but it draws inference that it is advisable to combine the elements of quantitative methodology and qualitative approach. It is stated that qualitative analysis allows a comprehensive understanding on links of the processes and factors that determine the problems of public service delivery, while quantitative tools usually show the existence of such problems. The paper also stresses potentialities of qualitative approach on tempering interactions among all the parties concerned with public service delivery, as such interactions tend to be the main contributors of public sector's competitiveness in a contemporary era of hybrid settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many research papers on local self-government since 1990s till present in Lithuania. However, according to the author, there is a lack of research papers where the dynamic (changing) Lithuanian local self-government system would be analyzed systematically (i.e., not just a separate aspect (element), but the entire local self-government system consisting of separate and linked together aspects (elements)). The author has published several articles in the academic journal "Public Policy and Administration". In this article, the author presents an opinion and judgment based on more than twenty years' worth of gathered knowledge about aspects of local self-government system, such as system of administrative-territorial units, the national and international legal acts regulating local self-government, the main definitions -- local municipality and local authority -- as well as their development throughout the period of 1990 till present and the like. The aim of this article is to continue the systematical research of Lithuanian local self-government system during the twenty three years (1990-2013) and determine other important aspects (elements) of local self-government system, which are largely discussed about in theory and practice -- competence of municipality and it's development during the period since 1990 till present day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of global inter-urban competition, attractiveness of a city for activity of individuals and organizations becomes one of the major preconditions for its success. City centre as a spece most intensively used by city members and guests has a particular importance: its functionality, attractiveness, specific atmosphere-magnetism and other characteristcs influence the decisions of people on where to live, work or recreate. Though during centuries city centres were concentrations of power and resources, in the last decades they lost their former role, functions and resources and often are described as places affected by severe, complex problems. City centres with their history, culture and human resources are important asset of the nation, which has to be cherished and developed. Authors of the paper refer to the findings of researchers representing different disciplines, which have analysed problems of the city centres. The paper discusses development processes characteristic to contemporary city centres and possibilities to manage the processes in the urban development policy context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Good state image ensures smooth integration into global market and international political system, helps to attract more foreign direct investments, tourists. It secures that country will gain the support of foreign countries and international organizations in solving various economic, political and security issues. In XXI century even small states are used to set a strategic goal of image forming in their national strategies and achieve this goal by using public diplomacy and nation branding. This paper aims to analyze the issues of contemprorary small states image forming by using public diplomacy and developing nation brand. Also main problems of Lithuania image forming are identified on the basis of comparative analysis of the cases of Lithuania, Estonia, Finland. The paper also contains the model of image forming and development of public diplomacy for Lithuania which was created on the basis of the comparative analysis of these three cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an overview and an analysis of literature related to specificity of university marketing, possibilities for market segmentation and main prerequisites for effective marketing strategy formulation. It is concluded that traditional marketing tools and principles are not immediately applicable to respond to the needs of higher education institutions, because they are based on seller-consumer models. The role of higher education institutions should be conceptualized through models of partnership and cooperation. It is also important for institutions of higher education to be able to identify the needs of various student sub-groups and respond to those needs via differentiated marketing strategies. The paper proposes to apply target marketing tools, as they do not require increases in expenditures. Equally, it is important to note that marketing in higher education is a profoundly complex process, which needs careful formulation and evaluation, including selection of appropriate evaluation indicators. Only by taking into account all these considerations can an institution of higher education expect to achieve its marketing goals, satisfaction of its stakeholders and their meaningful feedback. Well formulated marketing strategies play an important role in the process of quality assurance, achievement of institutional goals and modernization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many authors investigating the quality of life have recently begun to examine economic stress to help promoting legitimate, effective and ethical public administration solutions. It is argued that economic stress has a negative impact on society's well-being, thereby creating direct and indirect losses to the state. This study is aimed at identifying the economic difficulties of residents of Lithuania, as well as the economic stress in different income groups. This paper presents some results of the survey, which was conducted in 2016 in Lithuania (n=1001). The results showed that the vast majority (about 40 percent) of Lithuanian households experience economic difficulties and a significant lack of money. The results revealed statistically significant economic hardship and economic stress differences in different income quintile groups and different subjective socio-economic status groups. Authors indicate that additional research is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing multifaceted crisis of the 21st century demonstrates tight interconnectivity among governments, business and civil society as well as the urgent need for change. Permanent transformations cause changes in all areas of activity, principles and actors, which result in meaningful shifts in the public governance paradigm. This paper examines the participatory development of local communities from the perspective of farmers' social responsibility. The underlying research question is: “What level of social responsibility is assumed by farmers to support the involvement and development of a local community?” To answer the research question, positivist methodology was applied. Theoretical modelling was used to localize the research object - the participatory development of local communities - in conjunction with relevant paradigms of new public governance and corporate social responsibility. Farmers' social responsibility was defined and theoretically explained from the participatory development approach. A representative empirical study was performed in Lithuanian farms. Research results show that the participatory development of local communities in the context of farmers' social responsibility is just evolving in Lithuania. The top five responsibilities most often assumed by Lithuanian farmers and even those never assumed lack core values of social responsibility due to its rare occurrence, and thus give foresight for more targeted development of farmers' social responsibility in the future in the field of farmers' support schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main issue of this paper is party patronage in Lithuania. Firstly, the phenomenon of party patronage is shortly described focusing on main research questions. Afterwards methodology of semi-structured expert interviews is presented. Lastly this article shows the main findings of party patronage study in Lithuania: party patronage index is constructed, data regarding motivation or party patronage, candidates' selection criteria, impact of ruling party change on practices of party patronage, party patronage as a part of political culture is presented and analysis of Lithuanian political parties most prone to usage of party patronage is given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decades of the 20th and the start of the 21st century, the main features of changes in public administration have involved the evolution of traditional forms of such administration into postmodern public governance systems. This paper examines the evolution of public governance theory and practice. The underlying research question is: what is metagovernance and what structure does it take (in terms of the governance of governance)? To answer this, the article uses meta-analysis, theoretical modelling, comparative analysis, and interpretative and prognostic methods as a basis to evaluate many definitions of new public governance. The description of the development of metagovernance connects and combines the line of new forms and doctrines of public governance as good, smart governance, post new public management and new public services. All these theoretical definitions and models of new forms of transformation of governance can be characterised as forms, subsystems or elements of basic metagovernance systems. The term “metagovernance” encompasses the complexity of modern governance and suggests including hierarchies, market and network forms of governance. Metagovernance can be defined as a mutual, hybrid form of three ideal types of governance in the 21st century. The concept combines the best features of theory and governance practice from traditional public administration, new public management and postmodern forms of new public governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses new coming challenges in Lithuanian public procurement law implementing new Directives 2014/25/EU and 2014/24/EU. According to European Union (EU) rules, public sector procurement must follow transparent, open procedures that ensure fair conditions of competition for suppliers. Under the Directives, the new Law on Public Procurement of the Republic of Lithuania should stimulate innovation and economic development, supporting the achievement of other policy objectives at EU level - namely innovation, green growth and social inclusion. Data analysis focuses on the findings of qualitative research conducted in 2014 on the perceptions and experiences of actors in the field of public procurement with regard to EU draft and guidelines, the transposing of EU law into national law, and the promotion of initiatives to build public procurement policy and become more efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents situation and tendencies of women's and men's pay through the prism of gender equality in Lithuania. It analyzes the gender pay gap, its causes and provides recommendations on how to reduce the gender pay gap. The statistical analysis of the data revealed that women earn less than men in almost all sectors and all fields of economic activity. The most salient gender pay gap remains in the private sector as well as finance and insurance, information and communications, i. e. there, where men compose the largest part of employees and where is required high qualification. Gender segregation in the labour market, the gender stereotypes, the weaknesses of organization's human resources management, underestimation of women's competence and the absence of ability to combine family and work are ones of the most essential reasons of gender pay gap. In order to solve the gender pay gap problem, it is necessary to educate and train the public, to promote women's entrepreneurship, to improve the legal framework, to create conditions for women and men to combine work and family, to raise employers' awareness and change their attitude towards employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public administration system has been restructured by agencification in many countries. The new or reorganized agencies have been established. These agencies rely more on business management methods pursuing to improve public services quality, increase people's confidence in government, public administration, reduce costs, etc. Using principal - agent theory paper gives theoretical justification and by investigation of the reasons, means and results of agencification paper reviews practical experience of agencification in countries: Great Britain, Ireland, Portugal, Germany, the United States of America, and Sweden. Despite the divergence in agencification (agencies types and structures, legal framework), general trends and key success factors -- political consensus and strategic reform management -- can be determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the development of the police personnel training system in Lithuania in the period of 1990-2010. Assessing cultural and social circumstances of the formation and functioning of police institution, the degree of modernization of police management and personnel policy implemented in the system, the reasons of inefficiency in training police officers have been revealed. The problems discussed in the paper have been revealed investigating the development of personnel training system by conditionally dividing it into two stages in which the prevailing cultural and social environment and the former model of police institution management had determined the implementation of the officers training policy. The findings of the research showed that in Lithuania inefficient implementation of the reforms in the police system and insufficient cooperation between the Ministry of the Interior and universities are the reasons of failure to create a modern police officers training system, which secures the efficient preparation of police officers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper makes an attempt to show the New Public Management in the light of rhetorical managerial activities. From this perspective, the New Public Management is neither a scientific school nor a normative theory. It is a system of "myths" based on two main narratives: the struggle between the good (public sector reformers) and the evil (bureaucrats) and the theft of fire by Prometheus (modernisation of public sector). New Public Management myths are communicated by employing rhetorical tools, such as comparisons, metaphors, synecdoches, hyperboles. Furthermore, the paper argues that the rhetoric of public management reforms aims to form understanding and opinion of the masses about what are "the real problems of our society", and what are the best ways to solve these problems. In other words, it is propaganda -- rational, purposeful and institutionalised persuasion to manipulate, mobilise and govern citizens. By employing new rhetoric, propaganda creates predispositions, which are pre-reflexive tendencies to believe about certain social-economic phenomena. Based on the Knowledge Economy Forum case, the paper shows how knowledge economy predispositions are created and employed as a "platform" for other projects, such as the "Sunrise Valley" technology park and Vilnius-Kaunas „bipolar metropolis". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article concerns the thematic of evaluation in public management. The purpose of the paper is to analyze the conception and the models of evaluation in public management. There is a study of different types of evaluation approaches and evaluation definitions in the paper, which indicates the idea that there is no common definition of evaluation in public management, because it is strong in the context. Moreover, the implication of evaluation depends on such criteria as evaluation needs, evaluation purpose, typically applied methods, the role of evaluator and others. The paper also provides a discussion on the evaluation in historical perspective and the classification of evaluation models. The article identifies and describes the main evaluation models such as politically controlled studies, objectives orientated evaluations, management information systems, decision orientated evaluations, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to Bologna process, higher education plays the key role in providing the supply of qualified human resources for European labour market. Within the Bologna counties there is an increasing tendency to focus on the quality of student internship by fostering the collaboration between higher education and business sectors. However, the internships in Lithuania business companies do not contribute to human resource development and lack of integration into high school education processes. This situation could be described as a "formal model of internship" with no value for business companies as well as higher education institutions. This paper aims to explain why student internship in Lithuania is ineffective, and why partners, high education institutions and retail companies, have no motivation to change the existing situation. First, by applying stakeholders approach to internship process, main groups and interests identified and interests explained. It is argued that main stakeholders do not identify the internship as an integral part of value creation process. Second, new "Bottom-up" model is introduced. The model aims to integrate high school student internship into retail company human resource management process. According to the model, the mentor is a key person in the company responsible for the efficient internship process. The paper argues that internship mentoring demands to develop the particular framework of competences, such as personal, social, communication, and professional. Finally, by applying labour supply-demand model main trends in internship system development are defined and explained. It is argued that Lithuanian retail sector belongs to low value added industries and there is no substantial demand increase in higher education graduates. On the other hand, the increase of student enrolment during the period of 2000-2009 contributes to internship supply boost. It is suggested that retail companies, under the circumstances of high supply, should switch from "mass" internship practices to tailor-made internship projects and focus on mentor's competences development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims at assessment of the Lithuanian experience related to students' internships in municipalities. The article starts with the theoretical introduction into service learning education (via cooperated resources of the universities and their social partners). Then the overview of the study methodology follows. Data from two expert surveys (representing interests and responsibilities of, on one hand, higher education institutions and, on the other hand, municipalities) are presented at lenght. The paper ends with the SWOT (strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis and concludes that the present situation of students' internships in Lituania is not beneficial to the country municipalities (and self-government at large) as well that it has some serious flaws from the point of view of education sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyze the performance audit as specific and sufficiently new institute in the history of auditing. This paper argues that performance audit growth parallels the evolution of politics and public administration from one-dimensional focus on control of inputs toward broader attention to accountability for outputs and outcomes. As our survey has demonstrated, the causal relation between management reforms and the developments in performance auditing may theoretically go in two directions: reform causes new audit practices or new audit practices cause the reform. Empirically, the relationship is mainly one directional: management reforms trigger adoption of audit practices. At the audit sides, new public management has influenced development of the audit. This evolution of auditing represents both a means by which audit can continue to be relevant and a move toward fulfilling accountability role in governance. Basically the survey is based on the experience of Western countries and INTOSAI standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The entrepreneurship policy to promote economic growth and competitiveness is heavily focused on the supply of entrepreneurs. However, as it was stressed by Baumol (1990), the neglected factor is allocation between productive and unproductive entrepreneurial activities. While some EU countries, such as Czech Republic, Poland, and Portugal demonstrate high rates of entrepreneurial activities, they rank low in terms of competitiveness. This paper argues that in order to explain such phenomenon, we have to rethink the existing approaches from the perspective of economic sociology. Coming back to Baumol (1990), we should acknowledge a rather trivial but often neglected fact that entrepreneurs are persons who primarily seek to enhance their own wealth. The case study of Land Use Administration in Lithuania shows how entrepreneurial activities are embedded in the informal network of public officers and land dealers. The paper also argues that "land use" entrepreneurship activities are path-dependent. It is implicitly assumed that entrepreneurship is an exogenous variable, that entrepreneurs should be "bred" at universities and business schools. However, entrepreneurial activities, such as blat and unofficial economy, also existed in planned economy. Moreover, the legacy of Soviet entrepreneurship affects the current situation in Lithuania. In the case of "land use business" the entrepreneur does not collaborate with public sector, but in contrary - they view the state as a hostile country, like it was in Soviet times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper emphasizes the importance of implementation of Lithuanian electronic government (e-government) concept, generalizes legal acts for e-government and the current situation in the field of electronic services in Lithuania. The paper starts with the analysis of Lithuanian legislation and scientific literature, then discusses e-government development trends. By reffering to the classification of content maturity of European internet websites an existing supply of e-government services is discussed. With regard to importance of information provided by government institutions to the public a special attention is paid to the demand of e-government services. It is analysed referring to the information provided by the Department of Statistics by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to disclose the concept of social indicators and its meaning for modern public administration practice and appropriate scientific research. The necessity to create a national system of social indicators in Lithuania is emphasized. Methodological problems of legitimating the thematic (dimensional) structure of social indicators is discussed as well. The article indicates a coherence of social indicators with fundamental methodological problems of society cognition: social measurement and evaluation, social diagnostics and social prognosis. The authors state a coherence of social indicators with social welfare, quality of life, sustainable development and New Public Management concepts. Paper is based on assumption, that the New Public Management is an instrument to assure sustainable development: it has to create prerequisites for quality of life. The problem of quality of life indicators is analysed, assuming a necessity to combine both objective and subjective indicators of quality of life in a particular research. It is indicated, that subjective indicators are a source of scientific informatikon, while subjective quality of life indicators are an independent object of social cognition. The paper presents a methodology for research of public opinion in a particular municipality, based on subjective quality of life indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insufficient attention towards the topic of public service motivation among Lithuanian scholars encouraged the author to choose the object for the paper. The paper starts with the analysis of various theories of motivation (starting with A.Maslow theory of needs hierarchy and analyzing more complex theories of F.Herzberg, K.Alderfer, D.McCleland, V.Vroom, J.Adams, E.Lawler, W.Porter). Similar theories can serve as the basis for future research in Lithuanian public sphere. Author states, that universal theory on motivation does not exist. This fact complicates applicability of various theories in practice as raises the question, which theory is the best one (qualitative dimension). After choosing the theory, another question is what we have to measure. Attitudes (satisfaction), behavior (involvement) or both these elements should be used trying to measure motivation. A wish to participate in public policy implementation, serving public, loyalty to government; commitment and benevolence are several specific motivators, which influence public servant's activity. It is shown that working conditions, work content, salary, work safety, challenges, and possibilities for a career in private and public sector lead to distinguish certain similarities and differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In attempt to assess the peculiarities of development of human resources in contemporary public administration, this paper analyses these peculiarities from the perspective of change of public administration paradigm, emphasizing the interrelation of Classic (traditional) and the New Public Administration (New Public Management) in contemporary public administration and the increasingly gaining ground model of New Governance. Taking into account the fact, that nowadays international organizations, primarily the United Nations, play an increasing role in shaping the trends of human resource development, the paper refers to different studies published by the United Nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the public service quality management in Lithuanian municipalities. Increasing requirements to the quality of services is altering their quality management, so the study is seeking to reveal what quality management models and tools are applied by the municipalities in Lithuania in order to improve the quality management of public services. Grounded by the scientific literature analysis and by the authors' conducted quantitative research results (September-November, 2015), the article is presenting the public services quality management techniques, their application advantages, disadvantages and is analysing the possible improvements of public service quality management in Lithuanian municipalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reveals the qualitative study results which reflect a restructuring of the third phase of the evaluation of health care access, quality changes. Analyzed inpatient services, health care financing and health care institutions network optimization changes. In this paper, evidence is considered best practice for ensuring the success of the changes. To analyze the obtained results of the reform, use of 10 semi-structured interviews with a third restructuring program organizers, implementers and practitioners. The analysis of the research results showed that the main advantage of the third stage of restructuring is the expansion of ambulatory services. These interview participants who work in regional hospitals identified the most negative consequences of the restructuring: worsening of accessibility to health services, lack of financial support, fear of the future reconstructions. However, the process of closing stationery and obstetrics units is evaluated constructively even in the regional hospitals as increasing safety of the services is emphasized. These results demonstrate the potential for future transformational trends and issues that are still unresolved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]