News
9 November, 2015
Public Mgmt Lab Head Mantas Bileišis: Are Public Sector’s “Most Influential” Really So?
Events
Lecture
Mykolas Romeris University (MRU) Public Management Innovation Laboratory Head Assoc. Prof. Mantas Bileišis discusses the how and why of the "most influential" civil servants and that 7 of the 10 most influential are public sector representatives.
Nov. 6th, 2015, his article, "Mantas Bileišis: Are Public Sector's "Most Influential Really So" dealing with this subject, was published by the online news portal, 15min.lt
He writes that a majority of public sector representatives made the list because in one way or another they have the power to influence the numbers in the budget.
Those civil servants that made the top 10 list include: Lithuania's Central Bank Chairman; Lithuania's Central Bank Vice-Chairman; State Tax Inspectorate Head; Finance Ministry Deputy Minister; Competition Council Chairman; Public Procurement Office Director; and Economy Ministry Chancellor.
They are considered influential, most likely, because their institutions - on behalf of the government, take from some and give to others, writes Bileišis.
The government (its officials and institutions) has not decided for what reasons, to whom and how much to allocate, and from whom to take and redistribute, he notes.
How officials and their institutions implement these functions says a lot about them and the influence that they have on management of the public sector.
Being aware of that, we understand in a sense what Lithuania can do today and why, and what it can not.
Assoc. Prof. Bileišis notes that it's paradoxical that funds for various programmes usually exist, it is only necessary to distribute them among ministries, because often some of the funds are safely lying unused in some other "institutional" shelf.
He says that if you are an energetic civil servant generating great ideas and have a good idea, which you want to submit, then you must first check if you are in the "right ministry."
You should get approval for the idea not only from your boss or minister, but from the most influential and a few other officials, about whom you probably haven't heard of before.
You'll find out from them that your programme is bad and that there's no funds. That's why it's not even worth submitting it for consideration to those sitting higher-up.
And finally, he writes that if you are fortunate enough to get approval for your programme and receive allocation of funds, then your name should be among the top 3 on the "Most Influential" list.
The full article in Lithuanian is available here.