Civil society control of public administration activities: alignment to international standards

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to establish possible ways to increase effectiveness of interaction between civil society institutions and public administration subjects in Ukraine through the use of international experience; determination of a unified concept of management humanization and democratization and proposal of specific recommendations for reforming the existing public administration system in Ukraine. The article may be useful for relevant public administration subjects while creating a mechanism for a public administration system and, in particular, for involving citizens, since it is part of government strategies and development programs. It can also be useful for researchers of social and legal processes related to civil society development. Forms of participation of civil society institutions in public administration as a systemic tool of democratization processes in Ukraine are explored for the first time herein. In general, the forms of civil society institutions’ participation in public administration include the following: public consultations on state policy development and implementation, establishment and functioning of public (expert) councils in activities of public administration subjects; public examination of the activities of government bodies, anticorruption public examination of the activities of public administration subjects; ensuring the possibility for citizens’ electronic petitions to public administration subjects; ensuring the possibility for citizens to communicate with public administration subjects through call centers, “hotlines”, online and other electronic communication. For consistent coverage of the issue, substantial parts are allocated which characterize a homogeneous group of social relations in terms of determining the civil society’s participation in public administration, namely: institutional and legal, social and economic principles for the participation of civil society institutions in public administration, international standards in involvement of civil society institutions into public administration. Author noted, that on the way of implementing international and European standards of government, Ukraine is taking progressive steps towards reforming the outdated model of government and harmonizing it with the best practices in the world.

Keywords

• civil society
• public administration
• control
• public examination
• electronic petitions