Covid-19 Pandemic a Vector of Change in Public Administration Organizations. A Comparative Approach for Eastern Europe
Covid-19 Pandemic a Vector of Change in Public Administration Organizations. A Comparative Approach for Eastern Europe

Summary/Abstract: Practice and research describe the public sector in general and public administration in particular as highly resistant to change. However, the current crisis triggered by the coronavirus and its inevitable repercussions on the economic, social and behavioral field, have triggered and continue to trigger structural and functional changes across public administration organizations. The article proposed aims, on the one hand, to highlight the structural and functional changes in the organizations mentioned, mainly due to the so-called principle of “social distancing” and, on the other hand, determining and substantiating strategic principles designed to strengthen administrative capacity in emergency or risk situations. The research methodology has included both an in-depth desk research and socio-empirical investigations carried out in Romania and in other Eastern European countries. The bibliographic research will insist on the complex and specific reality of public administration in the South-Eastern European states, their relatively low level of institutional robustness compared to western European public administrations. At the same time, socio-empirical investigations will have as central topics the need to open the public sector, in general, and public administration, in particular, to change, to trust in government and public authorities, understanding and addressing emergencies, management culture under conditions of risk and uncertainty. Subsequent topics will address telework in public administration, participation in the public decision of the citizen and decision-making transparency. The changes identified were generated by a special, unique situation, such as we are unable to estimate their sustainability and the extent to which the end of the health crisis will lead to their preservation. The study is offering proof of the degree of change within public organizations, change generated by a pandemic.

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