PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION RESEARCH IN UKRAINE: TRANSFORMATION OF THEORY AND METHODOLOGY

Abstract

The article provides a brief overview of the formation of the theory and methodology of public administration in modern Ukraine. The article is theoretical in nature and asks for the use of deductive and analytical research methods. Taking into account the fact that scientific research, first in the field of public administration, and later in public management and administration, was carried out in parallel with the formation of the education system in this field, considerable attention was paid to the transformation of the relevant educational environment. Since the training of public administration specialists began at the National Academy of Public Administration, established under the President of Ukraine in 1992, based on the analysis of statistical data, the transformation of the education system in the relevant specialty was monitored, as well as a change in the list of directions and specialties for which public administration specialists were trained in corresponding levels of higher education and revealed the dynamics of the number of higher education institutions that trained specialists for public sector institutes. It was emphasized that all the transformations of the system of training students of higher education in the specialty «Public management and administration» affected scientists to varying degrees, who studied the possibilities of improving the work of public administration institutes and increasing its effectiveness. Changes in education and scientific activity, although they did not always seem consistent, were determined by social trends, which simultaneously required a revision of theoretical provisions. The multifaceted nature of public administration and the short period of formation of its theory and methodology contributed to the fact that encyclopedic or dictionary definitions of the terms inherent in this field of knowledge were supplemented by subjective interpretations, the basis of which were individual feelings, associations and understanding, and therefore we are dealing with many connotations of the same concept. It is proposed to interpret the subject of public administration research as a set of social relations, processes and phenomena that arise as a result of the perceived influence of state subjects on society. Prospects for further research into the theory and methodology of public administration are outlined.