Relevance of scientific substantiation of public administration activities in conditions of war
Authors:   Lviv Polytechnic National University, Petrovskyy Petro 
Published: February 2023

Problem setting. The conditions of a full-scale war on the part of the Russian Federation and the need for the further democratic development of Ukrainian society determine the preservation of the achieved level of democratic activity in the public administration sphere. At the same time, there is a threat of curtailment of democratic reforms, social transparency, etc. Similar trends also manifest themselves in the desire to simplify public administration activities, to justify their inefficiency by external reasons, to lead them to reduced forms of populism, etc. Therefore, the issue of scientific substantiation of public administration activities and their various types in the conditions of a full-scale war is becoming particularly acute. The above-mentioned has determined the purpose and content of this article. Paper main body. This paper defines that the scientific justification of public administration activities should arise from an adequate understanding of their actual prerequisites, as well as the systemic fixation of the subject’s abilities to achieve an optimal result and make a realistic solution. The paper reveals such aspects of scientific substantiation as the establishment of empirical reliability of knowledge, the determination of conceptual foundations of activities, as well as the formation of strategies for the development of the sphere of publicity. The ultimate identification of knowledge at these levels will be truth, rationality, and significance. Truth, as an adequate reproduction of the existing state of affairs, in the context of the scientific justification of the activity includes, besides the objective reality, the fixation of the subject or subjects’ readiness to perform forecasted actions. The rationality of public administration activities reveals through an appeal to the legally enshrined expediency of the law and the legitimacy of the normatively approved requirements of law and order. Besides, the scientific substantiation of innovative forms of activity requires taking into account a broader spectrum of objective possibilities as well as qualitatively new competencies of subjects. In the conditions of war, the social significance of public administration activities acquires particular attention, which, in its turn, requires the justification of every management decision in the system of coordinates, focused on consolidating the efforts of the whole society to strengthen the country’s defense capability, defeat invaders and preserve sovereignty, democracy, and humanism. Conclusions and recommendations. Reliable knowledge – the cohesion of genuine knowledge and the subject’s conviction of the need and possibility of performing reasonable actions, forms as a result of the scientific substantiation of public administration activities. The conditions of war lead to a more rational and responsible attitude of all social subjects to their duties. Attention is focused on the value of a systemic approach to justifying managerial decisions in the public sphere and the need for further consideration of the challenges and consequences of war.