Public Governance

Lecture 1. Introduction

- Overall introduction

- Course requirements

Required Readings:

1. Daron Acemoglu, What makes a country rich? MIT (2009)

2. Tony Bovaird & Elke Löffler, Chapter 1

Lecture 2. Concept of Public Governance

- Public Governance vs. State Management

- The Cores of Public Governance

- Introduction of WGI, PAPI, and Justice Index

Required Readings:

1. Tony Bovaird & Elke Löffler, Chapter 13, 15.

Lecture 3. Government's functions: Relationship between Public Governance and Development

- Requirements of good governance

- Measurement of Public Governance Quality

- Relationship between Public Governance and sustainable development

Required Readings:

1. Fukuyama (2004), Chapter 1

Lecture 4. Issues of Importing Modern Institutions

- Overview of Institution Importation

- Conditions for Successful Transplantation of Institution

Required Readings:

1. Fukuyama (2004), Chapter 2

Lecture 5. Democracy, Mandate and Functions of People Representative Bodies

- Legitimacy of Government

- Overview of representative democracy

- Legislative power

- Functions of people elected bodies

Required Readings:

1. Training Center for Elected Representatives (2010), Representative role: Maintaining the lifeline with voters

Lecture 6. Central Government Accountability

- Accountability perspectives

- Perspective of effective and efficient government

- Administration, civil servant and bureaucracy

Required Readings:

1. Phạm Duy Nghĩa (2014): Accountability

Lecture 7. Local Government Accountability

- Overview of local and regional governments

- Delegation and decentralization

Required Readings:

1. ADB (2003), Chapters 4, 5, 8

Lecture 8. Government resources management: Budget

- Budgeting: policy analysis point of view

- Management of enterprises with state capital

- Public procurement

Required Readings:

1. Open Budget Survey 2015 http://www.internationalbudget.org/opening-budgets/open-budget-initiative/open-budget-survey/

Lecture 9. Policy Toward Public Officials and Civil Servants

- Public officials and civil servants: Overview of right and obligations

- Recruitment, assessment, and training

Required Readings:

1. ADB (2003), Chapters 10-12

2. Legal documents: Law on Cadres and civl servants (2009), Law on Public officials (2011)

Lecture 10. Overview of Public Participation

- Concept and overview of public participation channels in government operation

- Promoting cooperation

- Social critical feedbacks by Fatherland Front

Required Readings:

1. ADB (2003), Chapters 13-14

2. Tony Bovaird and Elke Löffler, Ch. 15-16

Lecture 11. Monitoring Government by People Representative Bodies

- Constituency, public elected agency and its monitoring activities

- Effectiveness and legal consequences of public elected agency monitoring

Required Readings:

1. British Embassy & MEC (2013), Response level of public agencies to individual and organizational complaints, criticism and proposals, Research report

2. Tony Bovaird and Elke Löffler, Ch. 19

Lecture 12. Civil Society

- Civil society notion

- Measuring civil society in Vietnam

Required Readings:

1. ADB (2003), Chapter 15

Lecture 13. Enterprises and Government: The role of business association to policy-making process

Readings: 

1. David Baron, Business and its Environment, Stanford University (2010), Introduction (Overview).

Lecture 14. Access to Information: Building a Transparent Government

- Demand for Information

- Right to access information of the public

- Government obligation toward information access

Required readings:

1. Joseph Stiglitz (2006), Transpacrency in government, in World Bank, The right to tell: the role of mass media in economic development, Culture and Information Publishing House, pp. 33-55

2. ADB (2003) Chapter 16

3. Law on information access (2016), http://towardstransparency.vn/

- Evaluate policies that help enhance grassroots democracy, public and business participation in local policies, example, supervision of local planning, budgeting, and public investment

- Evaluate policies that help enhance business sector participation, especially private sector, in central and local government economic policies, lobbying channels, dialogue between business and government.

- Evaluate policies that help enhance transparent government, right to access to information of people, freedom of the press and monitoring government by civil society; discussion of recent events, role of Facebook and social media.

- Assess measurement of public governance performance, policy draft and recommendation to the public sector, performance of the public servants, and policies on preventing and fighting against corruption.