Bureaucratic Policy and Legal Aspects of Societal Engagement in Latvian National Defense

Abstract

In perfectly functioning democratic civil society, political decisions should be based on competence of elected officials and their knowledge of certain political issues where experts play an important role. The aim of this article is (1) to look at the role of elected officials (legislators) and public administration institutions in determining the governance of rule of law within defense policy in relation to engagement of the members of society in national defense, and (2) to analyse what factors affect sustainability of this policy and under what circumstances it transforms, and how this transformation is reflected in the public law. Methodologically theoretical / literature overview has been conducted, discussing the role of institutions in the political process and their interaction with legislator within the framework of new institutionalism. Empirically the case of Latvian defense policy towards societal engagement into national defense has been presented and analysed. An important aspect of the empirical study of this issue is interaction among the legislator, public administration institutions, non-governmental sector, and the public. Findings of this analysis leads to argument that Latvian ministry of defense plays a central role in sustainability and transformation of the national policy towards societal engagement into national defense. Legislator does not take necessary initiative in these policies, which is reflected in absence of needed amendments from the perspective of the public law, considering political ambition set by the Ministry of Defense of Latvia. Required political support of ministry’s political initiatives have been granted by the parliament, but as a consequence, this policy in its full extent is not currently properly reflected in the legal acts and regulations. Keywords: legislation, public law, national defense, institutionalism, bureaucratic policy, decision making, public administration, parliamentarism.