Table of Contents

  • Over the last two decades, Lithuania has invested substantially in modernising its public administration. Today, the country is exploring how to strengthen active citizenship and citizen participation in policy making and service delivery. This Public Governance Review seeks to support the country’s efforts to foster open and inclusive policy making and improve government-citizen relations. The Review also reflects the country’s participation in the Open Government Partnership (OGP). The OGP seeks to ensure a collaborative process between government and civil society as a means to reap the benefits of citizens’ participation in policy making. Lithuania joined the initiative in 2011 and has since been engaged in delivering on its OGP commitments in areas such as digital government services, access to information, public participation, accountability, transparency and the fight against corruption. Some of these issues are linked to the areas under study in the current Review.

  • Lithuania has undergone significant political, economic, social and administrative reforms since the re-establishment of its independence in 1990. These reforms paved the way for EU accession and NATO membership in 2004 and the adoption of the euro in 2015. As such, Lithuania has transitioned towards a modern public administration.

  • The purpose of this Public Governance Review is to support Lithuania in the enhancement of open and inclusive policy making and service delivery, as well as the strengthening of government-citizen relations. This Review covers three main areas: centre of government (CoG) co-ordination capacity as a catalyst for open government, citizens’ engagement as a core open government practice and digital government as an enabler for open government. The Review also includes a case study of open government in the health sector, mirroring the three main open government topics of the Review, i.e. linkage with the CoG’s agenda to foster open government (at sector level), citizens’ engagement and digital governance.

  • This chapter presents an overview of the major reform stages Lithuania has gone through, from the Soviet heritage to post-EU accession. Subsequently, future public administration needs are contextualised by sketching out some growth and well-being indicators, i.e. the country’s economic performance, its public finances and some key social data. This is followed by a short overview of some challenges Lithuania needs to consider to ensure that its public policies and institutions are fit for purpose. These challenges include enhanced public engagement in public policy, fostered trust in public institutions and forward-looking reform consolidation. Finally, open government is introduced as a way forward to address the observed challenges.

  • This chapter analyses the strategic role of the centre of government in Lithuania and compares it with the role of the centre of government in OECD countries as an increasingly important strategic player that provides vision, leadership and co-ordination across the government. It identifies strategic planning as an important CoG instrument and reviews the institutional set-up of the CoG in Lithuania and the development of strategic planning. An emphasis is given to changes in the recent past, including aspects of monitoring and evaluation. The chapter subsequently explores the CoG’s current role as a catalyst for open government across government. The chapter identifies opportunities for the CoG to strengthen its mandate of fostering open and inclusive policy making.

  • This chapter reviews and discusses citizens’ engagement in policy making and service delivery from an open government perspective. It presents and assesses its legal and policy framework and analyses the status of civil society and the culture of civic engagement in the country as a basis for successful open government policies. It then focuses on reviewing the practices of citizens’ consultation and participation by looking at their implementation and impact, and recommends ways in which the government can enhance their inclusiveness and effectiveness in contributing to the policy-making cycle.

  • This chapter analyses the development and role of digital government in the promotion of open government. Starting out with a brief description of the national digital context, it discusses if and how the Lithuanian government succeeded to set digital government priorities that are aligned with national policy priorities; whether current governance and co-ordination frameworks are fit to achieve those objectives; and the ways in which implementation capacities can be further improved to support the development of a more open and effective government.

  • This sector-specific chapter analyses open government in service delivery, exploring open government in the health sector. It introduces health sector governance in Lithuania and reviews the interplay between strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation, and performance management as centre of government instruments and their application in the health sector. The chapter then reviews citizens’ engagement at the sector level, paying particular attention to using citizens’ participation as a tool to fight corruption in the health sector. The chapter then discusses and assesses efforts in e-health and recommends ways to improve the governance of e-health projects and the use of e-health initiatives to improve transparency and accountability.