Effective Public Administration as a Tool for Building Smart Cities: The Experience of the Slovak Republic

Abstract

This study focuses on examining the requirements forming the concept of the right to effective administration in relation to the communication of local governments with their residents. We pay attention to the electronization of public administration and the ambition to strengthen it through public participation in decision making concerning important matters of self-government, as the implementation of effective public administration is linked to the right management approach. In the first part of the study, we analyze European jurisprudence and legislation, and we further address the question of how the European concept of local government influences the communication of local authorities with their inhabitants in relation to the realization of the means of direct democracy. We focus our attention on the current state of the electronization of public administration and its development, including cyber security. The main goal of this study is to use critical analysis to assess the legal regulation of the activities of the Slovak public administration. In addition to the main goal, we also have several sub-goals, such as making a comparison of the development of the electronization of public administration in the countries of the former Czechoslovakia. Especially with the use of critical analysis and other scientific methods of investigation, we look for and find answers to selected application problems from practice. We also use scientific and doctrinal interpretation as well as scientific literature and jurisprudence. As a result of our study, recommendations are made to ensure the more efficient functioning of smart cities in the Slovak Republic.