TY - THES A1 - Jantz, Bastian T1 - The dynamics of accountability in public sector reforms T1 - Accountability-Dynamiken und Reformen des öffentlichen Sektors N2 - This PhD thesis is essentially a collection of six sequential articles on dynamics of accountability in the reformed employment and welfare administration in different countries. The first article examines how recent changes in the governance of employment services in three European countries (Denmark, Germany and Norway) have influenced accountability relationships from a very wide-ranging perspective. It starts from the overall assumption in the literature that accountability relationships are becoming more numerous and complex, and that these changes may lead to multiple accountability disorder. The article explores these assumptions by analyzing the different actors involved and the information requested in the new governance arrangements in all three countries. It concludes that the considerable changes in organizational arrangements and more managerial information demanded and provided have led to more shared forms of accountability. Nevertheless, a clear development towards less political or administrative accountability could not be observed. The second article analyzes how the structure and development of reform processes affect accountability relationships and via what mechanisms. It is distinguished between an instrumental perspective and an institutional perspective and each of these perspectives takes a different view on the link between reforms and concrete action and results. By taking the welfare reforms in Norway and Germany as an example, it is shown that the reform outcomes in both countries are the result of a complex process of powering, puzzling and institutional constraints where different situational interpretations of problems, interests and administrative legacies had to be balanced. Accountability thus results not from a single process of environmental necessity or strategic choice, but from a dynamic interplay between different actors and institutional spheres. The third article then covers a specific instrument of public sector reforms, i.e. the increasing use of performance management. The article discusses the challenges and ambiguities between performance management and different forms of accountability based on the cases of the reformed welfare administration in Norway and Germany. The findings are that the introduction of performance management creates new accountability structures which influence service delivery, but not necessarily in the direction expected by reform agents. Observed unintended consequences include target fixation, the displacement of political accountability and the predominance of control aspects of accountability. The fourth article analyzes the accountability implications of the increasingly marketized models of welfare governance. It has often been argued that relocating powers and discretion to private contractors involve a trade-off between democratic accountability and efficiency. However, there is limited empirical evidence of how contracting out shapes accountability or is shaped by alternative democratic or administrative forms of accountability. Along these lines the article examines employment service accountability in the era of contracting out in Germany, Denmark and Great Britain. It is found that market accountability instruments are complementary instruments, not substitutes. The findings highlight the importance of administrative and political instruments in legitimizing marketized service provision and shed light on the processes that lead to the development of a hybrid accountability model. The fifth and sixth articles focus on the diagonal accountability relationships between public agencies, supreme audit institutions (SAI) and parental ministry or parliament. The fifth article examines the evolving role of SAIs in Denmark, Germany and Norway focusing particularly on their contribution to public accountability and their ambivalent relationship with some aspects of public sector reform in the welfare sector. The article analyzes how SAIs assess New Public Management inspired reforms in the welfare sector in the three countries. The analysis shows that all three SAIs have taken on an evaluative role when judging New Public Management instruments. At the same time their emphasis on legality and compliance can be at odds with some of the operating principles introduced by New Public Management reforms. The sixth article focuses on the auditing activities of the German SAI in the field of labor market administration as a single in-depth case study. The purpose is to analyze how SAIs gain impact in diagonal accountability settings. The results show that the direct relationship between auditor and auditee based on cooperation and trust is of outstanding importance for SAIs to give effect to their recommendations. However, if an SAI has to rely on actors of diagonal accountability, it is in a vulnerable position as it might lose control over the interpretation of its results. N2 - Die öffentliche Verwaltung sieht sich einem immer stärker werdenden Legitimationsdruck ausgesetzt, da Verwaltungshandeln nicht mehr nur innerhalb hierarchisch strukturierter Behörden erfolgt, sondern eine Vielzahl von Akteuren (öffentlich und privat) – mit für den Bürger teilweise unklaren Zuständigkeiten – beteiligt sind. Die Beziehungen zwischen den Akteuren innerhalb dieser Netzwerke folgen nicht länger einer klaren Hierarchie, sondern es entwickeln sich unübersichtliche Strukturen, innerhalb derer es schwierig ist, konkrete Instanzen zur Verantwortung zu ziehen. Die Pluralisierung und Dynamisierung von Governance-Strukturen verändert somit die Legitimationsgrundlage staatlichen Handelns. Kritische Stimmen sprechen in diesem Zusammenhang gar von einem Legitimationsdefizit. Zentral innerhalb dieser Diskussion ist das Konzept der Accountability, definiert als Beziehung, in deren Rahmen ein Akteur einem anderen Akteur gegenüber eine Verpflichtung zur Rechenschaft eingeht und von diesem Gegenüber für diese Rechenschaft im Gegenzug legitimiert wird oder auch sanktioniert werden kann. Ganz im Gegensatz zu der gestiegenen Aufmerksamkeit für Accountability fehlt es derzeit an einer systematischen Diskussion über den Bedeutungs- und Formenwandel von Accountability. Accountability-Phänomene werden weiterhin mit den Maßstäben tradierter und vergleichsweise statischer Accountability-Konzepte behandelt. Die vorliegende Arbeit setzt hier an, indem Accountability als soziale Beziehung konzeptualisiert und analysiert wird. Accountability-Beziehungen sind somit als dynamische Arrangements zu verstehen, die Prozesse des Wandels, der Reform, Veränderung, Hybridisierung oder Transformation durchlaufen können. Dieses konzeptionelle Verständnis von Accountability-Dynamiken wird in der Folge auf die jüngsten Reformen im Wohlfahrtsstaat, insbesondere in der Arbeitsmarktpolitik, angewendet. Wohlfahrtsstattliche Systeme stehen seit geraumer Zeit unter Reform- und Anpassungsdruck, gängige Kritikpunkte sind mangelnde Effizienz und Nachhaltigkeit sowie sinkende öffentliche Unterstützung. Politische Legitimität und Verantwortlichkeit ist dabei eine der Grundvoraussetzungen für das Fortbestehen des Wohlfahrtsstaates kontinentaleuropäischer Prägung. Daher untersucht die Arbeit, in welcher Form die jüngsten Wohlfahrtsstaatreformen die Accountability-Strukturen beeinflusst haben. Dabei haben die jüngsten Modernisierungsansätze im Zuge der internationalen Reformbewegung des „New Public Management“ auch im Bereich der Arbeitsmarktverwaltung das Verhältnis zwischen demokratischer, politischer Accountability auf der einen Seite und organisatorischer Autonomie der administrativen Einheiten zur Erbringung von arbeitsmarktpolitischen Dienstleistungen auf der anderen Seite, verändert. Somit gerät das Spannungsverhältnis zwischen Legitimation und Effizienz in den Blickpunkt. Wie können die unterschiedlichen Verantwortlichkeiten (Ergebnis- und Leistungsverantwortung der dezentralen Ebenen und politische Verantwortung der gewählten Körperschaften) verknüpft werden? Wie verändert sich die Rechenschaftspflicht nachgeordneter Organisationen im Bereich der Arbeitsmarktpolitik durch zunehmende autonome Kompetenzen? Der Analysefokus richtet sich somit primär auf Organisationsreformen und deren Einfluss auf die Veränderung der Verantwortlichkeitsstrukturen in der Arbeitsmarktverwaltung in unterschiedlichen Ländern (Norwegen, Dänemark, Großbritannien und Deutschland). KW - accountability KW - administrative reforms KW - employment services KW - Accountability KW - Rechenschaftspflicht KW - Verwaltungsreformen KW - Arbeitsmarktpolitik Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-78131 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Ebinger, Falk A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Bogumil, Jörg T1 - Territorial reforms in Europe BT - effects on administrative performance and democratic participation T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Territorial reform is the most radical and contested reorganisation of local government. A sound evaluation of the outcome of such reforms is hence an important step to ensure the legitimation of any decision on the subject. However, in our view the discourse on the subject appears to be one sided, focusing primarily on overall fiscal effects scrutinised by economists. The contribution of this paper is hence threefold: Firstly, we provide an overview off territorial reforms in Europe, with a special focus on Eastern Germany as a promising case for cross-country comparisons. Secondly, we provide an over-view of the analytical classifications of these reforms and context factors to be considered in their evaluation. And thirdly, we analyse the literature on qualitative performance effects of these reforms. The results show that territorial reforms have a significant positive impact on functional performance, while the effects on participation and integration are indeed ambivalent. In doing so, we provide substantial arguments for a broader, more inclusive discussion on the success of territorial reforms. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Reihe - 100 KW - municipal amalgamation effects KW - territorial reform KW - municipal mergers KW - local government performance KW - administrative reforms Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-420583 SN - 1867-5808 IS - 100 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ebinger, Falk A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Bogumil, Jörg T1 - Territorial reforms in Europe BT - effects on administrative performance and democratic participation JF - Local government studies N2 - Territorial reform is the most radical and contested reorganisation of local government. A sound evaluation of the outcome of such reforms is hence an important step to ensure the legitimation of any decision on the subject. However, in our view the discourse on the subject appears to be one sided, focusing primarily on overall fiscal effects scrutinised by economists. The contribution of this paper is hence threefold: Firstly, we provide an overview off territorial reforms in Europe, with a special focus on Eastern Germany as a promising case for cross-country comparisons. Secondly, we provide an overview of the analytical classifications of these reforms and context factors to be considered in their evaluation. And thirdly, we analyse the literature on qualitative performance effects of these reforms. The results show that territorial reforms have a significant positive impact on functional performance, while the effects on participation and integration are indeed ambivalent. In doing so, we provide substantial arguments for a broader, more inclusive discussion on the success of territorial reforms. KW - Municipal amalgamation effects KW - territorial reform KW - municipal mergers KW - local government performance KW - administrative reforms Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2018.1530660 SN - 0300-3930 SN - 1743-9388 VL - 45 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 23 PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group CY - Abingdon ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Heuberger, Moritz T1 - Digital transformation going local BT - implementation, impacts and constraints from a German perspective JF - Public money & management N2 - Digital government constitutes the most important trend of post-NPM reforms at the local level. Based on the results of a research project on local one-stop shops, this article analyses the current state of digitalization in German local authorities. The authors explain the hurdles of implementation as well as the impact on staff members and citizens, providing explanations and revealing general interrelations between institutional changes, impacts, and context factors of digital transformation. KW - administrative reforms KW - digital transformation KW - e-government KW - Germany KW - local government Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2021.1939584 SN - 0954-0962 SN - 1467-9302 VL - 43 IS - 2 SP - 147 EP - 155 PB - Taylor & Francis CY - Abingdon ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Bogumil, Jörg A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine ED - Ladner, Andreas ED - Sager, Fritz T1 - The politics of administrative reforms T2 - Handbook on the politics of public administration N2 - Administrative reforms refer to conscious decisions about institution building and institutional change that are taken at the end of political processes and can be conceived as the attempt by politico-administrative actors to change the institutional order (polity) within which they make and implement decisions. In this paper we proceed from the assumption that the role of politics, the constellation of political actors and arenas vary according to the scope and objectives of administrative reforms. Depending on whether they refer to changes between organizational units/levels/sectors ('external institutional policy') or to an internal reorganization ('internal institutional policy'), different actor strategies, patterns of conflict and power constellations can be expected. As external administrative reforms are aimed at changing functional and/or territorial jurisdictions and thus always involve external actors, larger resistance, heavier political conflicts and generally more politicization are likely to occur than in the case of internal administrative reforms. Yet, for internal reforms, too, actor coalitions which support or block institutional changes, promotors, leaders, and moderators have revealed to shape processes and outcomes. Against this background, this chapter examines the influence of politics on various types of administrative reforms making a distinction between external and internal institutional policies. We analyse the role of politico-administrative actors, their strategies and influence on the formulation, trajectories and outcomes of administrative reforms. Our major focus will be on reforms in the multi-level system on the one hand and on (Post-) NPM reforms on the other as two major international trends. Drawing on reform experiences in different European countries, the chapter will reveal to what extent actors' interests and influences have triggered and shaped administrative reforms and which difference these have made for the reform outcome. KW - administrative reforms KW - institutional policy KW - actor constellations KW - micro-politics KW - managerial reforms KW - territorial reforms Y1 - 2022 SN - 978-1-83910-943-0 SN - 978-1-83910-944-7 U6 - https://doi.org/10.4337/9781839109447.00018 SP - 125 EP - 137 PB - Edward Elgar Publishing CY - Cheltenham, UK ER -