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- Title
VERTYBINIS VALSTYBĖS TARNAUTOJO PROFILIS ŠIUOLAIKINĖ LIETUVOS POLITINĖS KULTŪROS KONTEKSTE.
- Authors
Palidauskaitė, Jolanta
- Abstract
The aim of this paper is to analyze values of Lithuanian public servants in the context of Lithuanian political culture. Lithuanian legal acts, scientific papers written by Lithuanian and Western researchers, and data from various surveys have been used exploring the topic. Comprehensive qualitative studies would provide a full portrait of the public servant, whereas current data and public opinion enable us to have only a partial view, judging it externally. The structure of the paper is as follows: after the short introduction in the first part author provides link between the concept of political culture and public service values. Cognitive, emotional and evaluative elements link these concepts. Normative side of public servants' activity was perceived from antiquity. Value orientations of public servants, as well as politicians, are important in democracy. Author present general insights on the current state of political culture and public service values research in Lithuania. The topic of the political culture was developed in two directions: attempts to evaluate general political attitudes in the society and analyse value orientations of the political elite. All the researchers exploring the topic were referring to classical work of G. Almond and S. Verba. Recently, studies on political culture were broadened including the topics of mass media impact on public opinion, possibilities and interferences for civil society development, social capital, etc. The second part describes features of the contemporary Lithuanian political culture. Initial public euphoria about the newly won freedom and state independence following the collapse of the communism faded quickly. Public trust in newly elected politicians was undermined firstly by social and economical difficulties, later on by continuous scandals, charges for conflicts of interests, corrupt behaviour, abuse of official position, maladministration, etc. Strong sense of national unity, great interest in politics common for Sajudis times transformed into huge social disparities, alienation, low level of political participation. Distrust in authorities, disappointment in occurring tendencies of state governance, disability to envisage the difference between the private and public, attempts to bypass regulations preferring informal rules and networks are just a few aspects analyzed in this part. The last part of the paper focuses on value profile of Lithuanian public servants. The argument is that actually practised values (general public opinion and public servants opinion about their guiding values) and legally binding ethical principles differ. This might be explained either by the culture of consumption dominant in the society, or the soviet legacy. Data from various surveys allows the author making the conclusion that value orientation of public servants in Lithuania reflects the general orientation of the consuming society. Negative habits practised by authorities and inherited from soviet nomenclature influence negative public opinion on public institutions, government, state and democracy.
- Subjects
PUBLIC administration; LITHUANIANS; DEMOCRACY; SOCIAL values; LITHUANIAN politics &; government; SOCIAL history
- Publication
Politologija, 2008, Issue 50, p23
- ISSN
1392-1681
- Publication type
Article