Preparing the Public Service for Working in Multiethnic Democracies: An Assessment and Ideas for Action

Abstract

Successful governance of multiethnic democracies and advancement of social and political equity for minorities in Europe are well-recognized goals. As has been noted recently in the activities of the Working Group on Democratic Governance of Multi-ethnic Communities of the Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe (NISPAcee),

The importance of finding effective long-term solutions to the management of ethnic, cultural, and linguistic difference and reduction of conflict in the region is without question. Strengthening the capacity of the public and NGO sectors to manage diversity is an essential step to improving governance and service delivery in general. Sustained attention to issues of diversity require long term capacity building through public administration education in addition to current efforts to reform laws and intervene in existing conflicts.¹

The challenge has drawn attention from many sectors and is being tackled in a wide range of ways (Brintnall, 2004; Kovacs, 2002). Solutions have been viewed variously, and often simultaneously, as a matter of law (Weller, 2005), as a matter of education (Tibbetts, 2002), as one of social psychology, community organizing, and social integration (Danchin and Cole, 2002; Petrova, 2002), as a matter of new policy and institution building (Ablyatifov, 2004; Krizsán, 2004; Marinova, 2005), and as one of reform of governance (Gál, 2002). The issue is genuinely multidimensional.

This paper explores what the civil service can contribute to achieving these goals, and particularly the role that education and training for public administration can play.² It reports on a survey of public administration education and training programs in the region intended to learn how they approach this problem and what progress they are making.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michael Brintnall

Michael Brintnall is executive director of the American Political Science Association; he formerly directed the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration. Appointed a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration in 2007, he is also chair of the Executive Committee of the Consortium of Social Science Associations and serves on the Board of the National Humanities Alliance, the Advisory Board for the Fulbright Scholar Program, the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, and the Membership Review Committee of the American Association of Law Schools. Brintnall’s research interests include the international roles of scholarly associations in civil society and development, the role of public administration in governance of multi-ethnic democracies, and urban politics and policy. He may be reached at [email protected].