Abstract

The German system of Public Administration, which is embedded in the “German Rechtsstaat”-culture and a deeply rooted legalist tradition, is regularly regarded as a reference model to inform reform debates and modernization efforts internationally. Due to its federal structure and the pronouncedly de-centralized institutional setting, the German public administration is regarded as a prime example of multi-level governance and strong local self-government. Furthermore, over the last decades, the traditional profile of the German administrative system has significantly been reshaped and remolded through reforms, modernization activities, and the transformation process in East Germany. Manifold reform approaches, such as territorial amalgamations, privatization and re-municipalization, citizen participation, performance and human resource management, better regulation and digital government, have been pursued at various levels of government and with different impacts. Against this background, we observe an increasing interest in the academic and practitioner’s community to acquire more comprehensive and systematic knowledge about Germany’s administrative system, its institutional structures, functional responsibilities, civil service features, multi-level governance, and most recent reforms. From a Comparative Public Administration perspective, there is a need for more in-depth institutional knowledge concerning various administrative systems in order to capture the peculiarities of different models, to compare their strengths and weaknesses and to learn from each other striving for an improvement of public administration worldwide. This book is meant to address this interest and will provide an overview on key elements of the German public administration at the federal, Lander and local levels of government as well as on current reform activities of the public sector.

Highlights

  • Background and Approach of the PublicationIn the international community of Public Administration (PA) of scholars and practitioners, there is a growing need to acquire knowledge and information, analysis, reviews and evaluations about Germany’s administrative system and its recent reforms

  • The subsequent chapters focus on the various fields of administrative reform and modernisation, starting in Part III with reforms intended to reshape the macro-institutional setting of public administration

  • Among the characteristics of German public administration that are most likely to catch the eye of a foreign observer include the following two phenomena: first, the high density of statutory law regulating the organisation, the procedure and the substantive criteria for the activities of public administration; and second, the almost ubiquitous presence of arguments inferred from constitutional law in the legislative process, court rulings and even administrative decisions

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Summary

Notes on Contributors

His areas of research include comparative and international public administration, local government and policy implementation in different policy areas (welfare, planning and environment). Sabine Kuhlmann is Professor of Political Science, Public Administration and Organization at University of Potsdam, Germany, Vice President of the IIAS for Western Europe and Vice-Chair of the National Regulatory Control Council of the German Federal Government. Her areas of research include comparative public administration, public sector reforms, better regulation and local government

Notes on Contributors xvii
Notes on Contributors xix
Background and Approach of the Publication
GERMAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
International Context and Lessons to Learn
Introduction
Key Concepts of Public Law and Public Administration
The Principle of the Law-Governed State (Rechtsstaat)
The Constitutional State (Verfassungsstaat)
The Integration of the Rechtsstaat and the Verfassungsstaat in the European Union
Lessons Learned
The Constitutional Frame of Public Administration
Constitutional Principles
The Multilevel Administration of German Federalism
The Impact of Fundamental Rights on Public Administration
The Role of Judicial Review
The Right to an Effective Judicial Remedy
The Powers of the Constitutional Jurisdiction
The Jurisdictionalisation of Administrative and Constitutional Law
Constitutional Reform and Constitutional Change
Conclusion
Historical Roots of German Administrative Federalism
Distribution of Responsibilities
Coordination and Cooperation
Trends and Challenges
Conclusion and Lessons Learned
The EU’s Striving to Extend Its Jurisdiction
EU Court Rulings
Legal Remedy Provided by the National Administrative Courts
The Formal Framework for the Federal Administration
Organisation of the Federal Administration
Practices of Coordination and Utilisation of Expertise
Levels and Patterns of Inter-ministerial Coordination
External Expertise in Inter-ministerial Coordination
Exception
THE FEDERAL ADMINISTRATION OF INTERIOR AFFAIRS 83
Structure of the Federal Administration
The BMI and Its Executive Agencies
Supervision
Excursus: ‘Minister-Free Zones’
Central Service Provider
From Superior Federal Authority to Supreme Federal Authority
The Legal Bases of the Public Institutions in the Social Security Systems
Oversight of the Social Security Systems
Basic Conditions for the Administrative Organisation
Basic Structures of the Administrations of the Länder
Direct Land Administration
Upper Administrative Level
Regional Meso Level
Lower State Authorities
Indirect Land Government
Personnel Structure and Administrative Culture
Structural Reforms
Prepared for the Future? Digitalisation as a Major Challenge
The Various Bodies of Local Self-Government
Population and Size of County-Free Cities, Counties and Municipalities Belonging to a County
Common Tasks of County-Free Cities, Counties and Municipalities Belonging to a County
The Common Tasks at the County Level Are Primarily
State Authority and Local Supervision
Local Self-Government and Its Constitutional Foundations
The Constitutional Guarantee of Local Self-Government Right
Article 28 (2) of the Basic Law as Institutional Guarantee of the
Principles of Financial Autonomy (Article 28 (2), Third Sentence of the Basic Law)
Elections and Forms of Direct Democracy at the Local Level a) Elections
The Local Bodies
The Local Representative Bodies
The Chief Administrative Officer All local authorities in
The Local Government Associations
PART II
Politics and Administration in Federal Ministries
Politics and Administration in Länder Ministries
Politics and Administration at the Local Level
Administrative Procedures and Processes
Classification of Processes
11 ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES AND PROCESSES 165
Extra-Organisational Procedures
Service Delivery Processes
Communication
Transparency and Information
Functions of Administrative Procedure Law
Structures and Principles of Administrative Procedure Law
Reform Discussions and Recent Developments
Intra-Organisational Processes
Management and Support Processes
Knowledge Management
Inter-Organisational Processes
Inter-Organisational Communication and Cooperation
Performance-Related Communication
Performance-Related Cooperation
Inter-Organisational Support
Inter-Organisational Control
Administrative Courts
The Structure of Administrative Courts in Germany
12 CONTROL AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Empirical Facts
Types of Decisions
Depth of Control
Exception No 1
Exception No 2
Extent of Control
Remaining Aspects Concerning Judicial Control
Courts of Audit
Organisational Features
Scope of Review
Effects
Civil Service Systems Compared
The Weberian
Steering and
Recruitment and Qualification
Compensation Schemes and Benefits
The German Civil Service at the Interface Between Politics and Administration
How the German Civil Service Has Changed or Is Supposed to Change
Lessons Learned and Concluding Thoughts
Regulation of Public Budgets and Budgeting
Principles of Budgeting, Structures and Classifications
The Budget Cycle
Recent Budgetary Reforms
Basic Regulation for the ‘Fiscal Constitution’ in the Basic Law
Public Expenditure
Public Sector Revenue
Revenue in General
Tax Revenue
Intergovernmental Financial Relations
Public Debt
Local Finance
Transformation of Public Administration in East Germany Following Unification
Institution Transfer
Personnel Transfer and ‘Elite Import’ from West to East
Financial Transfer
Transformation of the GDR’s State Economy
Transformation of the GDR’s State and Administration
Central Government Level Under the distribution formula established in the
Local Level
Employment Sector
Reduction in Personnel
Vocational Training and Qualification of Administrative Personnel
Concluding Remarks
Functional Reforms
Territorial Reforms
Conclusions and Lessons for Transfer
Corporatisation
Outsourcing
Privatisation
Re-municipalisation
18 PARTICIPATORY ADMINISTRATION AND CO-PRODUCTION 313
Co-design
Co-decision-making
Activating Citizens
An End of Corporatism? Pluralising Welfare Arrangements
Lessons Learned: Rediscovering the Citizen
PART IV
Current Status of Digital Transformation in Germany
Legal Framework for the Digital Transformation of the German State
February 2018 6 June 2019
Horizontal Distribution of Responsibilities Across Federal Ministries
Vertical Distribution of Responsibilities Across Administrative Levels
Recent Developments
Digital Transformation of Citizen Offices
Digital Transformation of the Federal Agency for Migration and Refugees
Lessons Learned and Practical Implications
19 OPEN GOVERNMENT 351
Better Regulation as Reform Concept
Better Regulation and the Federal Ministerial Bureaucracy
The National Regulatory Control Council
Institutionalisation of the NKR as an Independent Advisory and Supervisory Body
Mission and Mandate
Activities and Results of Regulatory Scrutiny5
Future Outlook and Lessons for Transfer
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management in German Public Administration
21 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN GERMAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 377
Selected Functional and Reform Topics
HR Strategy and Planning
HR Marketing, Selection and Training
Leadership
Public Service Motivation
Performance-Related Pay
Diversity Management
The Reform Model
22 PUBLIC MANAGEMENT REFORMS IN GERMANY
Implementation and Results
Impacts
Financial Management Reforms
New Municipal Financial Management
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