The ‘Neue Verwaltungsrechtswissenschaft’ against the backdrop of traditional administrative law scholarship in Germany

Abstract

If we want to talk about administrative reform, we need to address the methods of administrative law scholarship. Why is this the case? The short answer is: Sometimes changes are so profound that we are unable to conceptualize them unless we adjust our perspective. A longer answer is given in this article by analyzing the relationship between the development of German administrative law and the intense debate on the methods of administrative law scholarship, which took place over the last two decades. This debate, which is usually framed as a dispute between the traditional ‘juristic method’ (Juristische Methode) and the new paradigm of regulation or ‘steering’ (Steuerung), resulted in the emergence of the Neue Verwaltungsrechtswissenschaft (New Administrative Law). The Neue Verwaltungsrechtswissenschaft is part of a larger transnational movement towards a new theoretical foundation for the study of administrative law.