Overview

Self-determination in the European Union rests on the strength and skills of a country’s representatives to manage and leverage relationships with other nations, and for individuals it rests on the ability to use autonomy and freedom wisely. To flourish, an individual must consciously determine their own path. Similarly, we can say a country can flourish. Self-determinism for a country is conditioned on the forces that facilitate or hinder its ability to succeed as a society. The same forces that can help a nation to flourish might also accelerate the decision to emigrate among a nation’s people. This is the paradox, and it is the quest: national and individual self-determination, to allow choice for emigration but to have strength of culture, civics, and institutions to discourage it, or to encourage return migration for those who have left. In this book, we address this paradox and this quest using the case of Lithuania. More specifically, we examine how municipalities can and do respond to ongoing population shrinking due to emigration in Lithuania, the non-economic factors that facilitate decisions to emigrate, and the opportunities for local governments to shrink smartly or reverse shrinkage.

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9781793642523

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“Lithuania, a small northern eastern European country with 2.8 million people, has a long history of emigration and lost around two million of its citizens during centuries. Its sixth citizen left the country during the last 25 years. Why did Lithuanians migrate in the 19th century? What were the main motives for emigration and how did these patterns change in the 20th and 21st century? How could this be explained? What do Lithuanian municipalities think about emigration and how do they respond to it? Go to the Lithuanian migration journey with 'Democratic Dilemmas and Policy Responsiveness' and you will find the answers to those questions.” -- Vilmantė Kumpikaitė-Valiūnienė, Kaunas University of Technology

Author Information

Thomas Andrew Bryer is professor of public administration at the University of Central Florida and in the Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities at Kaunas University of Technology. Paulina Budrytė is researcher and lecturer at Kaunas University of Technology. Eglė Vaidelytė is full professor, vice-dean for studies and a member of research group “Civil Society and Sustainability” at Kaunas University of Technology. Eglė Butkevičienė is full professor of Sociology and head of Committee for Political Science, Sociology and Public Governance Study Programs at Kaunas University of Technology. Rimantas Rauleckas is associate professor and a member of “Public Governance” research group at Kaunas University of Technology. Jolanta Vaičiūnienė is head of the Municipal Training Centre and member of the research ground ""Civil Society and Sustainable Development"" at Kaunas University of Technology.

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