Hellmut Wollmann

Local Government Modernization in Germany: Between Incrementalism and Reform Waves

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 Lander 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.

Local Government Systems: From Historic Divergence towards Convergence? Great Britain, France, and Germany as Comparative Cases in Point

The author aims at a comparative analysis of the development of local government systems in Britain, France, and Germany. First, he makes the point that, during the historical evolution of the local government systems of the three countries over the last century, their institutional profiles have exhibited an almost classical divergence. Against this historical background the author pursues answers to the questions of whether, to what degree, and why the local government systems of the three countries have, in their more recent development, shown institutional convergence. Among the factors possibly fostering such convergence, the following are highlighted in the paper: the internationalisation (‘globalisation’) of socioeconomic and political challenges and institutional responses to them.

The Provision of Public Services in Europe

The book is the first of its kind to provide a comparative analysis of the provision of social and public services in France, Italy, Germany, the UK and Norway.

Local Government Reforms in (Seven) European Countries: Between Convergent and Divergent, Conflicting and Complementary Developments

Abstract In selecting the United Kingdom/England, Germany, Sweden, France, Italy, Spain and Hungary as comparative cases, and in focusing on three institutional tracks (local leadership, internal administration and external operation), this article first discusses, on the one hand, whether local government has been institutionally strengthened, and on the other, whether governance-type actor networks have expanded in the countries under consideration and whether, across-countries, this developments has shown convergence or divergence. Secondly, it addresses the question of whether the two currents (strengthening of traditional local government and expansion of local governance networks) are conflicting or complementary.

The Evaluation of Institutional Reforms at Sub-national Government Levels: A Still Neglected Research Agenda

Abstract This article is meant to take a noteworthy step towards conceptually promoting the evaluation of institutional reform policies in the sub-national space. It aims to apply pertinent approaches of evaluation to the field of institutional reform policies in the intergovernmental setting and thus to contribute to a research field that arguably has so far been a ‘missing link’ in policy evaluation. The authors conceptualise institutional policies (territorial and functional reforms) as a particular type of public policy and contrast them analytically, conceptually and methodologically with ‘normal’ substantial policies. They reveal particular problems of measurement and of finding relevant indicators to evaluate the results of institutional reforms, one of which is the assessment of the transaction costs of reforms. Finally, an analytical framework for the evaluation of functional and territorial reform policies is suggested that makes a distinction between ‘institution evaluation’ and ‘performance evaluation’, and that can be applied in comparative evaluation studies.

Comparing Two Logics of Interlocal Cooperation: The Cases of France and Germany

In this article the interaction and cooperation of local level actors is conceived as being premised on two organizational logics, that is, on the territorialitybased general purpose elected local government form and on institutionalized functionality-based single-purpose non-elected intermunicipal cooperation. Drawing on the work by Hooghe and Marks the two variants are identified as “type I” and “type II” institutional arrangements. Germany and France are treated as comparative cases in point.In Germany the institutional development resulted, with federalism-typical variance between the Länder, in a mono structure of type I local government in some and in a dual structure with type II intermunicipal bodies in others, whereas in France the dual structure with a multitude of type II intermuncipal bodies (intercommunalité) has prevailed. Recently a new wave of territorial reforms in East German Länder has extended the coverage of type I local government and reduced that of type II intermunicipal bodies, while in France the introduction of the type II communautés bears traces of the type I local government form. In both countries these reform moves have been triggered largely by mounting criticism of the operational (conflict and transaction) costs and democratic deficits of the dual structure with type II intermuncipal bodies. These advances of the type I local government form concur with local level territorial reforms put into effect in a growing number of other European countries. Finally the article interprets the findings by drawing on and applying the conceptual government/governance scheme.

Institution Building and Decentralization in Formerly Socialist Countries: The Cases of Poland, Hungary, and East Germany

The author aims at a comparative analysis of the institutional transformation, particularly in the central, regional, and local dimensions, of formerly socialist countries by looking at Hungary, Poland, and East Germany. Elaborating the different institutional arrangements with which the three countries came out of the founding period after the collapse of the communist regime, the author attempts to identify the specific constellation of forces and ideas that essentially shaped the institution-building process and its underlying institutionalizing logic in each country. Turning to the subsequent consolidating period the author tries to relate the different rates and paces of the following institutional adaptation and of the ‘reform of the reform’ primarily to the different arenas, issues, and strengths of the party-political competition that has emerged in these countries.

Local democracy in post-communist Europe

Local government reform in post-communist Europe - Making local democracy work: What were the challenges? - Values of local democracy as seen by mayors in East-Central Europe - Representational roles in local politics - Community challenges in post-communist towns - Optimal size for local democracy - The international contacts of municipalities - Trends in local government in the Visegrad countries - Local government development in the Baltic countries - Institution building of local government in Russia - Local reforms in Croatia and Slovenia - Decentralization: Lessons for reformers

Institutionenbildung in Ostdeutschland: Neubau, Umbau und „schöpferische Zerstörung“

Die Schaffung handlungsfahiger politischer und administrativer Institutionen hatte und hat fur die politische, wirtschaftliche und gesellschaftliche Transformation und Restrukturierung der postsozialistischen Lander zentrale Bedeutung.’ Dabei standen die Lander vor der beispiellosen Herausforderung, einen gesamtstaatlichen, -wirtschaftlichen und -gesellschaftlichen Umbruch- und Restrukturierungsprozes mit Hilfe eines Institutionensystems zu bewaltigen, das sich gleichzeitig selber mitten im turbulenten Prozes der Umgestaltung und Neubildung befand. Dies ahnelt der-Aufgabe, ein Schiff inmitten eines Orkans auf Kurs zu halten, es gleichzeitig total umzubauen, und dies mit einer weitgehend ausgewechselten Mannschaft und mit unvertrautem Kotnpas.

New Public Management

Der uber den englischen Sprachraum hinaus verwendete (Sammel-)Begriff „New Public Management“ (hiernach: NPM) bezeichnet ein Bundel verwaltungspolitischer Reformstrategien, die uberwiegend von einer betriebswirtschaftlichen Interpretation des Verwaltungshandelns geleitet werden. In diesem Zusammenhang wird daher haufig auch von einer „Mikrookonomisierung“ offentlicher Verwaltungen gesprochen. Die verschiedenen Strategien formten sich ursprunglich zu Beginn der Achtzigerjahre in Landern mit angelsachsischer Staats- und Verwaltungstradition (Grosbritannien, USA, Australien, Neuseeland) zu einem gemeinsamen Reformstrang, bevor sich vor allem auch in den skandinavischen Staaten und den Niederlanden — wenn auch in unterschiedlicher Auspragung — vergleichbare Reformbewegungen herausbildeten. Das Reformmodell des NPM bietet keinen dogmatisch abgeschlossenen Masnahmenkatalog an, wird jedoch haufig mit Masnahmen zur Privatisierung und Deregulierung, zur Auslagerung und Verselbststandigung von Verwaltungseinheiten, zur Einfuhrung von Wettbewerbselementen in das Verwaltungshandeln sowie mit der Ubernahme privatwirtschaftlicher Managementmethoden in den offentlichen Bereich in Verbindung gebracht.