Foreword

Abstract

The Department of Public Policy was established a generation ago, at a time of wrenching change for the University and for Malta. Since then, hundreds of the Department’s graduates have contributed to Malta’s transformation into an affluent, stable, democratic, well-governed society. In the process, they have also made rewarding careers for themselves in government, business and civil society, in Malta and overseas. A small number of these graduates has been tempted into academia, contributing to the formation of future leaders through their teaching, enlarging the fields of knowledge through their research, and contributing to public or corporate affairs through their thinking and advice. Most of the members of this small but active community of public policy scholars combine professional and scholarly pursuits. This collection of essays and papers embodies some of their recent research and thinking. Some of the subjects that are dealt with, such as corruption and good governance, are long-standing concerns. Others are emerging as a consequence of Malta’s accession to the European Union and its integration into the intensely competitive global community: these issues include the ‘emancipation’ and ‘Europeanisation’ of civil society or women, as well as the re-emergence of poverty as a leading policy concern.