common concern with good governance
Nea_Polis literally means new city, but the meaning we attach to the term refers to reinventing the ways politics is a meaningful activity for us. We are particularly interested in focusing on the relationship between leadership and followership, and in particular how leaders become responsive to citizens’ changing aspirations. Conversely, and equally important, how citizens respond to leaders’ policy initiatives. This becomes all the more important in an era in which technology, societal change, economic competition, climate change or even a pandemic urge us to take decisions in a timely manner and in a way that secures the quality of policy results. Above all, the management of thorny policy issues should be congruent with the rules and values of democratic governance, namely with the requirements inter alia of inclusiveness, participation, accountability, transparency and sustainability.
new avenues for civic engagement
Data from different political systems suggest an increasing fatigue and perhaps disillusion with party politics. Yet, active citizens seek alternative ways to voice their concerns and have a stake in decision-making. Thanks to digital technology, avenues for policy implementation and civic engagement have mushroomed in recent years. Governments use them to increase administrative performance as well as to grow public support for policy initiatives. Citizens enjoy easy access to administrative resources, but they are also concerned with good governance as well, so they eager to submit their views and proposals.
the nexus of public administration
Hence, one of the things that is being overlooked is that public administration at large is emerging as an essential nexus between leadership and citizenship in almost every aspect of the cycle of policy-making, from drafting proposals, to drawing-up, legislating, implementing and assessing policy targets.
responsive leadership
We set out to explore innovative ways to interlink leadership, administration and citizenship in ways that uphold good democratic governance. We point out that the term responsive best describes how each of the three actors, leaders, citizens and public servants, should relate to each other. Responsiveness refers to advancing public causes, sharing resources, mutually reinforcing initiatives, overcoming policy gridlocks, valuing consent as much as contestation. Above all, it points to streamlining the claim for free and equal citizenship, and care for the least advantaged, in every aspect of policy-making.
a dynamic network
Analysis and empirical insights for Nea_Polis is substantially enriched by our constant interaction with fellow-academics, students in under-and-post-graduate studies and public servants. Indeed, a dynamic Nea_Polis network of people with similar concerns and fruitful contributions has evolved that instigates brainstorming and new approaches. Our activities include mentoring and webinars, data research, bibliography review and reading lists, policy proposals and common causes. We work together with different focus groups: students, public servants, members of parliament and government, local and regional administration authorities, civil society organization staff.
manos’ initiative
Nea_Polis is supervised by the Assistant Professor in Political Systems Manos Papazoglou (Department of Politics and International Relations, University of the Peloponnese). Manos holds a PhD in Government (Essex University, UK, PhD thesis on Citizenship and Democratic Legitimacy in the European Union: Euro-Republicanism and the Concept of Responsive Citizenship, 2005). He also received a Master’s Degree in Political Philosophy from the Politics Department, York University, UK (2001) and a BA in Political Science and Public Administration from the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Athens (2000). Manos has taught in British and Greek Universities: Visiting Lecturer at the University of London, Goldsmiths College, Department of Politics, Visiting Lecturer at the London Metropolitan University, Open University of Greece and the and Athens University of Economics and Business/ International MBA course. Currently, Manos’ extensive yearly teaching agenda includes four courses in Political Science at the University of the Peloponnese, five different MA courses in EU studies and Public Policy at his department’s MA programs and two MA courses in Public Administration in distance-learning programs at the Universities of Neapolis Pafos and Open (Greece).
academia.edu: Manos Papazoglou
Nea_Polis 