Programme

Two empirical laboratories

The coursework offered in this PhD Programme is empirically centred on two empirical laboratories used to analyse composite systems of public administration. These laboratories are:

• International executive institutions,
  notably the EU institutions
• Regional and local government and governance

These laboratories are reflected both in the core course and the specialisation courses of the PhD Programme. The focus of the Programme is thus two-folded. First a focus on the multiple governance dynamics embedded in singular administrative systems, such as the European Commission, and regional and local government. Second a focus on how the public administrations of international executive institutions and regional and local administrations are increasingly interlinked, intermeshed and intertwined.

Overview

Public administration is increasingly faced with complex, intertwined and interlinked problems, solutions and actors (Rhodes et al. 2006; Rosenau 1997; Shapiro et al. 2006). Public administration also faces enduring and enhanced tensions between competing interests, concerns, norms and values. Efforts to solve, buffer and re-balance these tensions and trade-offs are done in different ways by different administrative systems and these endeavours have become vastly more complex. This development disputes existing administrative solutions, traditions and practices. When these challenges meet existing administrative systems, new dynamics of public administration may emerge. One effect has been a strengthened plea for a major overhaul and reform of administrative systems. More complex challenges arguably cry for more complex administrative solutions.

The core area of the programme focuses on research themes such as:

• Development and implications of composite systems of public administration
• The interaction and mutual penetration of international and regional systems of public administration
• Overviews of existing composite systems of governance at the international and regional levels of governance
• Implications for democratic governance
• Implications for political steering and control

The PhD-programme aims at understanding the development and implication of composite administrative systems at different levels of government. Arguably, composite systems are able to accommodate multiple governance dynamics by mobilising multiple organisational and human resources.

Programme Progress plan

The PhD-programme is organised to be completed in a three-year period. The first year of the programme is devoted to coursework and beginning of the dissertation work. The coursework includes a core course in public administration, courses in research methods and specialisation courses. As part of the coursework all students are required to participate in a dissertation seminar. This is to help the students to prepare for their final dissertation.

The two last years the students will work on their dissertation.

Programme components

The coursework in the programme is divided into three main areas:

· Core Course . The core course (10 credits) is intended to give the students a thorough grounding in the main literature of public administration in general and particularly on the composite aspects of governance. The course is dedicated to the core area, reflecting the definition of composite systems of public administration.

· Specialisation Courses . The specialisation courses (10 credits in total) go into depth in a limited number of specific issues covered in the core course. Specialisation courses will help the PhD student to achieve a sufficient knowledge within a narrow subfield of public administration and to start producing research in this field. Currently we have outlined two specialisation courses convened by the faculty at the Department of Political Science and Management. Additional specialisation courses are provided by the network partners of the Programme:

o Netherland Institute of Government (NIG),

o The Danish Political Science Research Program (POLFORSK) and

o Science Po Bordeaux.

· Methodology Courses. The purpose of the methods courses is to provide students with a solid methodological foundation. A minimum of 17.5 credits are required in research methods, theory of science, and dissertation seminar. The PhD students are obliged to take Theory of Science and the Dissertation Seminar at UiA, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences. The choice of courses in research methods is subject to the choice of the PhD students.

The content of the core course will be relatively stable over time, whereas the content of the specialisation courses, focusing on current research issues, will have to be continuously updated to reflect ongoing research. The coursework is divided into three main areas, as presented below. In total the coursework consists of 37.5 ECTS.

Courses

Requirements and obligations

Academic Requirements:

According to article 6 of the University of Agder's regulations for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD), a PhD degree is awarded on the basis of:

1. Approved doctoral degree dissertation and a satisfactory defence in a public disputation.

2. Approved completion of the organized training component.

3. Approved trial lecture.

The dissertation

The dissertation shall be an independent piece of scientific work that meets international standards within the relevant subject area. The dissertation shall contribute to the development of new knowledge within the subject area and be of sufficient academic quality so that it can be publicised as part of the academic literature in the subject area.

Joint work may be approved as part of the dissertation provided that the candidate’s own independent contribution can be identified and documented.

Collections of several minor works (articles) may be approved as a dissertation when they in content constitute a totality. A summary must then be prepared to give an overall perspective.

The dissertation may be written in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, or English. If the candidate wants to use a different language, an application must be made by the time of admission.

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