TY - CHAP A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Seyfried, Markus ED - Vigoda-Gadot, Eran ED - Vashdi, Dana R. T1 - Comparative methods B BT - comparative methods in public administration – the value of looking around T2 - Handbook of research methods in public administration, management and policy N2 - This chapter outlines the relevance and value of comparative approaches and methods in studying Public Administration (PA). It discusses the roots and current developments of comparative research in PA and discusses various methodological venues for cross-country comparisons, such as most similar/dissimilar systems designs, the method of concomitant variation and the difference-in-difference method. Besides the description of these approaches, we highlight their conceptual value for theory-driven empirical comparative research. Drawing on selected pieces of comparative research, the chapter furthermore provides examples for the application of comparative methods in practice presenting empirical findings and highlighting strengths and weaknesses. The chapter finally emphasizes that the methodological development in comparative PA research has by far not yet reached its end, and that some future challenges need to be addressed, such as the issues of causality, generalizability, and mixed-methods approaches. Y1 - 2020 SN - 978-1-78990-347-8 SN - 978-1-78990-348-5 U6 - https://doi.org/10.4337/9781789903485.00017 SP - 181 EP - 196 PB - Edward Elgar Publishing CY - Cheltenham, UK ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Seyfried, Markus A1 - Brajnik, Irena Baclija T1 - Mayors and administrative reforms JF - Political Leaders and Changing Local Democracy N2 - In recent decades, a wave of administrative reforms has changed local governance in many European countries. However, our knowledge about differences as well as similarities between the countries, driving forces, impacts, perceptions, and evaluation of these reforms is still limited. In the chapter, the authors give an overview about mayors’ perceptions and evaluations of two major reform trajectories: (a) re-organisation of local service delivery and (b) internal administrative/managerial reforms. Furthermore, differences between (groups of) countries as well as similarities among them are shown in these two fields of administrative reform. Finally, the authors tried to identify explanatory factors for specific perceptions of administrative reforms at the local level. KW - New public management KW - Local administrative systems KW - Administrative reform KW - Public-private partnerships Y1 - 2017 SN - 978-3-319-67410-0 SN - 978-3-319-67409-4 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67410-0_13 SP - 387 EP - 409 PB - Palgrave CY - Basingstoke ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Seyfried, Markus A1 - Siegel, John Philipp T1 - Was bewirken Gebietsreformen? BT - Eine Bilanz deutscher und europäischer Erfahrungen JF - Der moderne Staat : dms ; Zeitschrift für Public Policy, Recht und Management N2 - Der vorliegende Beitrag fasst die bisherige Forschung über die Wirkungen von Gebietsreformen zusammen und analysiert diese aus inhaltlicher und methodischer Perspektive. Basierend auf einer Auswertung von ausgewählten nationalen und europäischen Studien werden Wirkungsbefunde in drei zentralen Dimensionen dargestellt: (1) Leistungsfähigkeit, Verwaltungs- und Veranstaltungskraft, (2) Einsparungen, Skalenerträge und Wirtschaftlichkeit und (3) Partizipation und demokratische Kontrolle. Im Ergebnis kann festgestellt werden, dass die Leistungs- und Handlungsfähigkeit kommunaler Verwaltungen durch Gebietsreformen überwiegend positiv beeinflusst wird. Dagegen sind die empirischen Befunde bezüglich Wirtschaftlichkeit, Einsparungen und Skalenerträge sowie zur Partizipation und demokratischen Kontrolle nicht eindeutig. Y1 - 2018 SN - 1865-7192 SN - 2196-1395 VL - 11 IS - 1 SP - 119 EP - 141 PB - Budrich CY - Leverkusen ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Veit, Sylvia ED - Varone, Frédéric ED - Jacob, Steve ED - Bundi, Pirmin T1 - Evaluation of and in public administration T2 - Handbook of public policy evaluation N2 - This chapter addresses the role of evaluation of and in public administration. We focus on two analytical key dimensions: a) the provider of the evaluation and b) the subject of the evaluation. Four major types of evaluation are distinguished: (1) external institutional evaluation, (2) internal institutional evaluation, (3) external evaluation of administrative action/results, (4) internal evaluation of administrative action/results. Type 1 and 2 refer to evaluation of administrative structures and processes as the subject of administrative reform. Type 3 and 4 represent different versions of evaluation in public administration, because the subject is administrative action and its outputs. The chapter highlights salient approaches and organizational settings of evaluation and provides insights into the institutionalization of an evaluation function in public administration. Finally, the chapter draws lessons regarding strengths and potentials but also remaining weaknesses and challenges of evaluation of and in public administration. KW - administrative reform KW - new public management KW - public administration KW - institutionalization of evaluation KW - typology of evaluation KW - better regulation Y1 - 2023 SN - 9781800884892 U6 - https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800884892.00023 SP - 220 EP - 237 PB - Edward Elgar Publishing CY - Cheltenham, UK ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Veit, Sylvia T1 - The Federal Ministerial Bureaucracy, the Legislative Process and Better Regulation JF - Public Administration in Germany N2 - Over the last decades, Better Regulation has become a major reform topic at the federal and—in some cases—also at the Länder level. Although the debate about improving regulatory quality and reducing unnecessary burdens created by bureaucracy and red tape date back to the 1960s and 1970s, the introduction by law in 2006 of a new independent institutionalised body for regulatory control at the federal level of government has brought a new quality to the discourse and practice of Better Regulation in Germany. This chapter introduces the basic features of the legislative process at the federal level in Germany, addresses the issue of Better Regulation and outlines the role of the National Regulatory Control Council (Nationaler Normenkontrollrat—NKR) as a ‘watchdog’ for compliance costs, red tape and regulatory impacts. Y1 - 2021 SN - 978-3-030-53696-1 SN - 978-3-030-53697-8 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53697-8_20 SP - 357 EP - 373 PB - Palgrave Macmillan CY - Cham ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Veit, Sylvia A1 - Bogumil, Jörg T1 - Public Service Systems at Subnational and Local Levels of Government : a British-German-French Comparison T2 - Comparative Civil Service Systems in the 21st Century Y1 - 2015 SN - 978-1-137-32578-5 SP - 162 EP - 184 PB - Palgrave Macmillan CY - Hampshire ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Wayenberg, Ellen T1 - Institutional impact assessment in multi-level systems: conceptualizing decentralization effects from a comparative perspective JF - International review of administrative sciences : an international journal of comparative public administration N2 - Comparative literature on institutional reforms in multi-level systems proceeds from a global trend towards the decentralization of state functions. However, there is only scarce knowledge about the impact that decentralization has had, in particular, upon the sub-central governments involved. How does it affect regional and local governments? Do these reforms also have unintended outcomes on the sub-central level and how can this be explained? This article aims to develop a conceptual framework to assess the impacts of decentralization on the sub-central level from a comparative and policy-oriented perspective. This framework is intended to outline the major patterns and models of decentralization and the theoretical assumptions regarding de-/re-centralization impacts, as well as pertinent cross-country approaches meant to evaluate and compare institutional reforms. It will also serve as an analytical guideline and a structural basis for all the country-related articles in this Special Issue. Points for practitioners Decentralization reforms are approved as having a key role to play in the attainment of ‘good governance’. Yet, there is also the enticement on the part of state governments to offload an ever-increasing amount of responsibilities to, and overtask, local levels of government, which can lead to increasing performance disparities within local sub-state jurisdictions. Against this background, the article provides a conceptual framework to assess reform impacts from a comparative perspective. The analytical framework can be used by practitioners to support their decisions about new decentralization strategies or necessary adjustments regarding ongoing reform measures. KW - administrative reform KW - comparison KW - coordination KW - effectiveness KW - efficiency KW - impact assessment KW - institutional reform KW - local government Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852315583194 SN - 0020-8523 SN - 1461-7226 VL - 82 IS - 2 SP - 233 EP - 272 PB - Sage CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Wayenberg, Ellen A1 - Bergström, Tomas A1 - Franzke, Jochen T1 - The Essence and Transformation of Local Self-Government in Western Europe JF - The Future of Local Self-Government : European Trends in Autonomy, Innovations and Central-Local Relations N2 - All over Europe, cities and municipalities face new and numerous challenges to uphold their unique self-governing role in society. This intriguing reality underscores this volume’s ambition of brightening the future of local self-government. After further elaborating on this relevant background and the approach taken, the first chapter introduces three main dimensions of analysis. They are key to the volume’s subsequent parts on the essence of local government’s autonomy, its transformations in the light of digitalisation, marketisation and amalgamation and, finally, its changing intergovernmental relations concerning supervision and subnational policy-making. This volume covers eight countries, spread over Europe. And so, this introductory chapter ends with highlighting main features of the different local government systems involved. KW - Local self-government KW - Autonomy KW - Transformation KW - Intergovernmental relations Y1 - 2021 SN - 978-3-030-56059-1 SN - 978-3-030-56058-4 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56059-1_1 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Springer CY - Cham ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Wollmann, Hellmut T1 - Transaktionskosten von Verwaltungsreformen : ein missing link der Evaluationsforschung Y1 - 2006 SN - 3-89404-776-3 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Schwab, Christian A1 - Bogumil, Jörg A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Gerber, Sascha T1 - Digitalisierung von Verwaltungsleistungen in Bürgerämtern T2 - Handbuch Digitalisierung in Staat und Verwaltung N2 - Die Digitalisierung der öffentlichen Leistungserbringung für die Bürger bildet gegenwärtig einen Schwerpunkt der Modernisierungsaktivitäten in Staat und Verwaltung. Hinsichtlich der digitalen Informationsbereitstellung hat es zwar deutliche Fortschritte gegeben, insgesamt zeigt sich jedoch eine allenfalls moderate „E-Government-Performanz“ bei der digitalen Kommunikation zwischen Verwaltung und Bürgern sowie bei Transaktionen, d. h. der medienbruchfreien Abschließbarkeit von Verwaltungsvorgängen. Als wesentliche Gründe für die ernüchternde Bilanz der lokalen Verwaltungsdigitalisierung sind neben technischen, rechtlichen, finanziellen und personellen Barrieren insbesondere politische und institutionelle Hürden zu nennen. Viele Probleme sind zudem auch bei E-Government-Funktionen (z. B. der Online-Formulare oder elektronischen Bezahlmöglichkeiten) zu verzeichnen. Positiv schneidet dagegen die elektronische Terminvergabe ab, die in den Bürgerämtern zu wesentlichen Prozess- und Serviceverbesserungen geführt hat. Allerdings sind neben positiven Effekten, wie beispielsweise schnelleren Bearbeitungszeiten und kürzeren Wartezeiten, auch dysfunktionale Digitalisierungseffekte zu verzeichnen, wie erhöhter Arbeitsstress aufgrund eines gestiegenen Kommunikationsaufkommens (v. a. durch Email) und der damit einhergehenden Verlagerung des Arbeitsaufkommens vom Frontoffice ins Backoffice. Y1 - 2020 SN - 978-3-658-23667-0 SN - 978-3-658-23668-7 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-23668-7 SP - 437 EP - 448 PB - Springer CY - Wiesbaden ER -