Openness of Public Administration in Slovenia: A Desire or a Reality?

Abstract

Throughout history public administration has faced various challenges. Today those challenges are visible in the need to connect public administration and successful democracy, which is evident in the emphasis of the idea of serving citizens and not (only) users. It is obvious that the answer can be found in the concept of the new public service. The authors focus on whether it is possible, in Slovenia, which is facing similar challenges as those of many other developed countries, to introduce the concept of the new public service formally or actually, especially the element of open public administration. The research has shown that in the last decade a lot has changed concerning this, but at the same time a lot has stayed the same. That is why the authors establish that the strength of the concept of the new public service lies within the formal aspect (the existence of the special document that demands the openness of public administration to users); on a lesser scale this actually exists. For this reason, open public administration in Slovenia is still an unfulfilled wish.