The democratic anchorage of public management reforms, public sector innovation and experimental governance

In order to increase the legitimacy and effectiveness of public management reforms, public sector innovation and experimental governance, stronger democratic anchorage of developments in public administration is needed. The goal of this fully-funded PhD project is to examine how governments in Europe can achieve better democratic anchorage of reforms, innovations and policy experiments.

Supervisors:
Tenured Full Professor Veiko Lember
Tenured Full Professor Ringa Raudla

The research

Due to political polarization, technological change, geopolitical competition, ecological degradation, security crisis and other pressures, public administrations face increasing need to adapt to complex new challenges. Reform and innovation in the public sector are crucial for delivering effective policies and high-quality, resilient services. A lack of public administration reform, whether real or perceived, can undermine government legitimacy by failing to meet citizens’ needs or harming public finances, leaving administrations fragile and vulnerable. Paradoxically, the same loss of legitimacy can also result from overly radical or one-sided public administration reforms.

In order to increase the legitimacy and effectiveness of public management reforms, public sector innovation and experimental governance, stronger democratic anchorage of developments in public administration is needed. Without sufficient public support and democratic legitimacy, proposed improvements to public administrations may face public distrust and even backlash. The goal of the PhD project is to examine how governments in Europe can achieve better democratic anchorage of reforms, innovations and policy experiments.    

The tasks of the project are to examine: 1) systematically the relationship between public sector innovations and democratic legitimacy; 2) how to improve the democratic legitimacy of public sector reforms and innovations; 3) how various governance approaches such as participatory governance and experimental governance could contribute to enhancing the democratic legitimacy of public sector reforms; 4) how to increase the democratic legitimacy of experimental policymaking?

We look for prospective PhD students with relevant background in public administration, political sciences or related fields. Please submit a max 2-page motivation letter and an example of previous academic writing.

At TalTech, PhD students write so-called “cumulative thesis” that consists of at least 3 internationally published peer-reviewed articles. The position will be partly financed and implemented as part of the 4-year Horizon Europe Project ‘Renewing Administration through Democratic Anchorage Reforms’ (RADAR) starting in 2025 and carried out in cooperation with Radboud Universiteit (The Netherlands), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), Tallinn University of Technology  (Estonia), Direction Interministerielle de la Transformation Publique (France), Goeteborgs Universitet  (Sweden), Istituto Universitario Europeo (Italy), National School of Political Studies and Public Administration (Romania), Hertie School (Germany), European Association for Public Administration Accreditation (The Netherlands), and Regional School of Public Administration (Montenegro).

Responsibilities and (foreseen) tasks

• Carrying out literature reviews;
• Novel theory building combining Public Administration, democratic theories, innovation studies and experimental governance;
• Empirical research (e.g. case studies, comparative research, focus group research, mapping);
• Writing research papers and policy briefs / blogs;
• Supporting administration of research projects;
• Lecturing on the topics of PhD research.

Applicants should fulfil the following requirements:

• a master’s degree in social sciences (preferably in public administration or political science);
• a clear interest in the topic of the position;
• excellent command of English;
• strong and demonstrable writing and analytical skills;
• capacity to work both as an independent researcher and as part of an international team;
• capacity and willingness to provide assistance in organizational tasks relevant to the project.

We offer:

• 4-year fully funded PhD position in one of the largest, most internationalized and leading social science research centers in Estonia with a large portfolio of ongoing pan-European and national public administration, technology governance and innovation studies projects. At TalTech, there is no tuition fee for PhD studies and we provide the starting monthly income of at least 2300 EUR gross + employers’ healthcare and social security contributions.
• The chance to do high-level research in one of the most dynamic digital societies globally.
• Opportunities for conference visits, research stays and networking with globally leading universities and research centers in the fields of public administration, innovation studies and technology governance.

About the department

The Ragnar Nurkse Department of Innovation and Governance (RND) is an interdisciplinary research center of Tallinn University of Technology that focuses on socially relevant and future-oriented research and teaching issues:

• models and practices of governance and public administration globally;
• digital transformation of societies: datafication, public services, state-citizen relations, and urban futures;
• commons-based peer-to-peer technologies, its' governance and potential new production models;
• science and innovation policies and its' management;
• philosophy of science and technology.

RND is a highly internationalised department and engages some of the top international thinkers and researchers in its research fields. Next to a fully English taught PhD degree it offers a MA degree in Technology Governance and Sustainability, and a unique Erasmus Mundus joint MSc programme in Public Sector Innovation and e-Governance in cooperation with KU Leuven (Belgium) and University of Münster (Germany). RND and its staff have coordinated or been involved in a multitude of international research projects with the EU (ERC,  H2020, HE, FP7, INTERREG, COST), UN (UNDP), OECD (SIGMA), INET, Tempelton Foundation, and have participated in various European Commission working groups. Recently RND initiated a major, 32 MEUR international R&D project on Smart Cities (FinestTwins). RND is also engaged in several international associations, such as the European Master in Public Administration program (EMPA), European Inter-University Association on Society, Science and Technology (ESST), and the European Group for Public Administration (EGPA) where RND coordinates the Permanent Study Group on Public Administration, Technology and Innovation.

(Additional information)

For further information, please contact Prof Veiko Lember (veiko.lember@taltech.ee) and Prof Ringa Raudla (ringa.raudla@taltech.ee) or visit https://taltech.ee/en/nurkse.