INERP 2.0 Change and continuity
The Regulatory Policies Research Institute is coming of age. A difficult period, marked by dramatic events for the country, public administration, and ourselves, has come to an end.
It has left a significant mark, but the page has turned definitively.
We have learned, I hope, this time, what our modern history has persistently shown us: Without a strong and thriving public administration, there is no chance for development and prosperity. And that clientelism, which temporarily offers joy and benefits to the politicians who embrace it, always leads to destruction, bankruptcy, and the disgrace of the country.
The INERP was created, in the previous decade, during the turbulent years of bankruptcy, with a humble ambition: To serve as an administrative ark in which we wanted to preserve whatever we deemed useful and necessary for the post-storm period. In its initial phase, the Institute focused on highlighting the unique value patterns of the public servants, who are often vilified from all sides, and who reflect our Greek identity. The fusion of our distinctive identity with the rich new knowledge brought by the social sciences to administrative theory and practice became one of our constants. The theory of self-referential social systems contributed to our self-awareness in two ways: on the one hand, by understanding public administration as an administrative system with a core functional code based on clientelism, with parts that also have self-referential characteristics; and, on the other hand, by highlighting reforms that, as a whole, have anti-clientelist characteristics.
The efforts of that period bore fruit, albeit with a significant time lag, which is necessary for the incubation of new ideas.
Today, new collaborators, together with the older ones, are working to further cultivate the knowledge of those who are interested in and striving for a better public administration and local government.
The INERP will continue to follow the developments in administrative theory and practice during this period of revolutionary changes in the world, attempting to adapt them to our context, with the exclusive purpose of defending the ever-attacked rule of law and democracy against the much more sophisticated techniques of power compared to the past.
Our vision of openness, transparency, accountability, and anti-clientelist reforms in public administration and local government has found new advocates, which gives us the strength and courage to move forward.
The INERP will continue to be a stronghold of defenders of our pluralistic society and administration, hoping to contribute some pieces to the efforts made by dedicated public servants and citizens throughout the country for an anti-clientelist Greece.
In this spirit, INERP launches its new digital presence with the launch of its revamped website at ierp.gr.
INERP's new digital space aspires to serve as a hub of administrative knowledge and public debate. At www.ierp.gr, visitors can find articles, studies, analyses and interventions on critical issues, as well as research and qualitative data, to understand and document social and institutional developments and challenges in Greece. It is also planned to organize webinars, open discussions and events that will enhance the participation and contribution of citizens, researchers and public officials in various thematic areas.
INERP's website is available to every researcher, public official, institution, journalist and citizen who shares the vision of a fair, efficient and progressive public administration. We invite you to visit it, browse its content and become part of a community of thought, research and intervention for an institutionally shielded public space, open to accountability and resistant to clientelism.
