New development: Between politics and strategic planning—the management of government priorities in Lithuania

How do political agendas impact on strategic planning practices? This article shows that recent changes to the framework for managing government priorities have made Lithuania’s strategic planning system more politically responsive by mobilizing political attention, leadership and state funding to major government commitments. However, these changes have not yet translated into any longer term outcomes because policy implementation practices did not change very much.The authors explain the effects of reforms introducing strategic planning in Lithuanian government. The Lithuanian case has implications for other administrations. For example, reforms promoting a more effective management of government or strategic priorities are more likely to succeed if the design of the strategic planning systems matches political agendas. Appropriate frameworks and mechanisms need to be employed for the management of important government commitments within strategic planning systems, such as the Lithuanian system for managing government priorities. In addition, strategic management tools, knowledge and capacities need to be constantly reviewed and developed in public sector organizations at different levels of government to better achieve policy aims and objectives.