PUPn4999 Governance, Agency and Problems of Public Administration (GAPPA)

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Roman Baláž, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Roman Baláž, Ph.D.
Department of Social Policy and Social Work – Faculty of Social Studies
Supplier department: Department of Social Policy and Social Work – Faculty of Social Studies
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 18 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/18, only registered: 0/18
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The GAPPA course aims to introduce students to 1) the governance in the EU member states and 2) the agency of policy actors in specific governance structures. The flow of power among the policy actors and its legitimacy is the core of the course. Students will understand the power-flow implications for conflict, coexistence or collaboration among the policy actors in diverse governance settings in the EU member states. The problem of the structurally embedded power of policy actors creates the course's overall framework.
Learning outcomes
The GAPPA course lays relevant foundations for 1) future policy-makers to critically assess volatile relations among the policy actors while formulating and implementing particular policies and 2) future social workers to evaluate the institutional and organizational conditions of their work with individuals, groups, and communities more critically. Students will (1) be familiar with general governance concepts, (2) understand the multiplicity of interactions creating the interplay among the policy actors, and (3) reveal how diverse kinds of power shape the formulation, implementation, or administration of particular policies.
Syllabus
  • General concepts:
  • Governance, government, and the people
  • Vertical (multi-level) governance
  • Horizontal (multi-sector) governance
  • Diagonal governance
  • Institutional settings of governance
    • Agency and Policy Actors:
  • Agency – an institutionalist’s account
  • Embedded Agency
    • Policy processes:
  • Policy process – An introduction
  • Policy process – Agendas and policy formulation
  • Policy process – Policy implementation
    • Power of policy actors and shaping the governance:
  • Power of Policy Actors
  • The Final session: Making a synthesis
Literature
    required literature
  • Hill, M., & Varone, F. (2021). The public policy process. Routledge.
  • Mazur, S. (Ed.). (2020). Public Administration in Central Europe: Ideas as Causes of Reforms. Taylor & Francis Group.
  • Peters, B. G. (2021). Advanced introduction to public policy. Edward Elgar Publishing.
  • Reay, T., Zilber, T.B., Langley, A., & Tsoukas, H. (2019). Institutions and organizations: A process view. Oxford University Press.
  • Torfing, J., Peters, B. G., Pierre, J., & Sørensen, E. (2012). Interactive governance: Advancing the paradigm. Oxford university Press.
Teaching methods
Lectures, reading, class discussion, group projects
Assessment methods
Written assignments (partial and seminar) and oral examination of continuous work in exercises, the aim of which is to practice the information acquired through readings and lectures
Language of instruction
English
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2025/PUPn4999