PUBLIC-ADMINISTRATION IN POSTSOCIALIST EASTERN-EUROPE

What must be done to bring the public administrations of Eastern European countries into the post-socialist era? This question is addressed by Eric Rice who offers a discussion of needed reforms based on several principles that stress greater governmental responsiveness and efficiency. Highlighting this agenda is the need to improve the policy making capacity of governments and a number of steps to change the general role of government in Eastern European societies. Among Rice's recommendations is the ''transformation'' of government into a ''servant'' of the people, greater decentralization, elimination of ''obsolete'' agencies and the redesign of basic government systems, and major reforms of both the public finance and civil service systems in each country.