The Capacity to Govern in Central and Eastern Europe [antikvár]

IntroductionThe High Le vei Meeting, The Capacity to Govern in Central and Eastern Europe, was held under the auspices of the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Mr. Vladimír Spidla, in Prague on December 18-20, 2003. The event was jointly or-ganized by the Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration and The Center for Social and Economic Strategies, Charles University, and co-spon-sored by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations Development Program, Régiónál Support Center in Bratislava and The World Bank.The main purpose was to bring together high-ranking civil servants from the ten Central and Eastern European countries (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Es-tonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Romania) who were preparing to jóin the European Union, and top academics (from both the West and the East) to discuss the problems and challenges of strategic govern-ance in the region. Nevertheless, discussion alone would not suffice. Participants were supposed to inspire one other by bringing fresh, innovative ideas on how to adjust governance to the new challenges associated with the transformation from authoritarian political regimes and command economies to democracy and markét economy, within the high demands of the EU membership and the challenges of globalisation.This volume comprises seven papers presented at the Meeting by the group of Western and Eastern scholars. Prof. Yehezkel Dror (Hebrew University in Jeru-salem, Israel), author of the influential report to the Club of Romé "The Capacity to Govern" (London and Portland, OR: Frank Cass 2001), takes into consideration the global framework of strategic decision-making at the central level of govern-ment. Dr. Geoff Mulgan (The Strategy Unit of the Prime Minister s Office, Great Britain) presents approaches, methods, tools and skills that help his Unit under-pin the strategic capacity of the UK government. Prof. Maria Joáo Rodrigues (University Institute, Lisbon, Portugál) explains the purpose, goals and instru-ments of the EU Lisbon Strategy designed to modernize the European economies and societies up to 2010. Prof. Martin Potűcek (Center for Social and Economic Strategies, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic) interprets the results of the expert survey comparing the strengths and weaknesses of governance in