Pregledni rad
Current Administrative Reforms in Germany
Hellmut Wollmann
; Humboldt Universität - Institut für Socialwissenschaft, Berlin
Sažetak
The article addresses public sector modernisation in the Federal Republic of Germany. First the stage for the discussion will be set by
sketching the development of public sector reforms leading up to the late 1980s. Second, and its main part, the essay will give an overview
of the development since the early 1990s. Hereby particularly two strands of reform discussion and practice will be distinguished. First, a nutshell account of the modernization concepts and measures will be given which have been strongly influenced by the New Public Management (NPM) debate that has been dominant in the international debate, particularly in the Anglo-Saxon countries, since the early 1980s. It will be argued that ín Germany the thrust of the recent modernisation wave has so far focused on the introduction of management principles in the intra-administrative operations, including attempt to make the civil service and public employment system more flexible, competitive and incentive-related. At the same time, other typical NPM concepts, such as the “agencification” and privatisation (“outsourcing”) of public tasks have so far made only limited advances. Second, a short analysis will be provided on the introduction of direct democratic procedures (local referendums, direct election of the mayors) by which the local political setting of municipal and county administration has been significantly changed. Finally, a summary will be given by placing the “German case” in an internationally comparative perspective and in raising the question as to whether in Croatia's current public sector reform some lessons might be drawn from the German experience.
Ključne riječi
Public sector reforms in Germany; New Public Management/New Steering Model; civil service/public employment reforms; Institutional transformation in the former GDR; direct democratic procedures in local government
Hrčak ID:
197690
URI
Datum izdavanja:
8.11.2002.
Posjeta: 1.891 *