Local Government Modernization in Germany: Between Incrementalism and Reform Waves

Abstract

In taking a historical‐institutionlist approach, this paper looks at the development of administrative reforms in German local government which, because of the comparatively high degree of political and administrative decentralization of the Federal Republic has played a crucial role in the latter’s entire politico‐administrative setting and, hence, in its institutional reforms. The paper mainly identifies three stages in the post‐war development of administrative reforms. During the ‘planning movement’ of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Germany’s local level government and administration underwent significant and, to a considerable degree, lasting institutional changes. The 1980s were a period of incrementalist adaptation. Since the beginning of the 1990s, conspicuously later than in the Anglo‐Saxon and Scandinavian countries, but earlier and faster than the federal and the Länder levels, Germany’s local government has embarked upon dramatic changes particularly on two scores. First, in a growing number of municipalities and counties, administrative modernization was incorporated under the heading of a ‘New Steering Model’ (NSM) that largely drew on the dominant international New Public Management (NPM) debate. The dynamics of the ongoing administrative reforms are marked by an ‘amalgamation’ of NPM/NSM and earlier (‘traditional’) reform concepts. Secondly, at the same time, the political institutions of local government have under‐gone a significant shift as a result of the introduction of direct democratic procedures (direct election of mayors and heads of counties, binding local referenda). The paper argues that it is this co‐incidence and co‐evolution of administrative and political reforms that make for the peculiarity of Germany’s current modernization trajectory, distinguishing it from the Anglo‐Saxon and, to a lesser degree, from the Scandinavian modernization paths.

Direct democracy and local government efficiency

“…Wollmann, 2000;Reichard, 2003). The new institutions of direct democracy allowed citizens wide opportunities to participate in local affairs through binding initiatives, and were meant to complement to the public management reforms with the important element of citizen participation.…”

Direct Democracy and Local Government Efficiency

“…4 Moreover, this reform went hand-in-hand with a wave of public administration reforms across German States, often referred to as New Public Management reforms, aiming to make the local public sector more efficient and competitive (e.g. Wollmann, 2000;Reichard, 2003). The new institutions of direct democracy allowed citizens wide opportunities to participate in local affairs through binding initiatives, and were meant to complement to the public management reforms with the important element of citizen participation.…”

“…The new institutions of direct democracy allowed citizens wide opportunities to participate in local affairs through binding initiatives, and were meant to complement to the public management reforms with the important element of citizen participation. As Wollmann (2000) describes, the direct democratic reforms brought a "participatory revolution" in an obvious reaction and an attempt to counteract the economic and fiscal one-sidedness of administrative reforms. Wollmann's strong narrative is perhaps not even exaggerated as this innovation has quickly become a popular policy tool and an important decision-making institution resulting in more than 2,500 petitions for initiatives (around half of them successful) in the population of around 2,000 Bavarian municipalities (from the 1995 reform until 2011).…”

The Indirect Effects of Direct Democracy: Local Government Size and Non-Budgetary Voter Initiatives

“…9 The Western states followed, 10 however, with quite a different motivation. Here the innovation was largely determined by the need to reform the local public administration towards strengthening its efficiency in the new competitive environment, and was undertaken parallel to other administrative reforms (Wollmann, 2000).…”