TY - JOUR A1 - Bergström, Tomas A1 - Franzke, Jochen A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Wayenberg, Ellen T1 - Future Outlook and Scenarios JF - The Future of Local Self-Government : European Trends in Autonomy, Innovations and Central-Local Relations N2 - Where is local self-government heading in the future? Among trends identified is firstly an intensification of multilevel, intermunicipal, and cross-border governance. In the future even more of cooperation and coordination among different political and administrative levels will be required. Territorial boundaries have become increasingly incongruent with functional public activities. Secondly, the innovative potential of introducing markets as templates for organisational reform has reached its end. Future reforms will most likely try to adapt market reforms to local public contexts, or even reverse the development. Finally, a tightening of state steering and an increased dependence on state funding to uphold local services is expected. Waves of amalgamations might slow down this process but they will not make financial problems disappear completely. KW - Local self-government KW - Governance KW - Organisational reform KW - Dependence KW - Amalgamations KW - Financial problems Y1 - 2021 SN - 978-3-030-56058-4 SN - 978-3-030-56059-1 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56059-1_20 SP - 227 EP - 286 PB - Springer CY - Cham ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine ED - Goldfinch, Shaun F. T1 - From Weberian bureaucracy to digital government? BT - trajectories of administrative reform in Germany T2 - Handbook of public administration reform N2 - Over the past decades, the traditional profile of the German administrative system has significantly been reshaped and remoulded through reforms and transformations. Manifold modernization efforts have been undertaken to adjust administrative structures and procedures to increasing challenges and pressures. In this chapter, the attempt is made to outline major institutional reform paths in Germany from Weberian bureaucracy to most recent reforms towards a digital transformation of public administration. We will show to what extent the German administrative system has moved away from the classical Weberian bureaucracy to a hybrid system where elements of the ‘old’ model and new reform paradigms such as the NPM and digital government are hybridized, labelled the Neo Weberian State. The question will be addressed as to what extent this shift has taken shape and which hurdles and path-dependencies can be identified to explain partial persistence and continuity over time. KW - neo weberian state KW - digitalization KW - new public management KW - territorial reforms KW - intergovernmental reforms KW - Germany Y1 - 2023 SN - 978-1-80037-674-8 SN - 978-1-80037-673-1 U6 - https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800376748.00016 SP - 207 EP - 226 PB - Edward Elgar Publishing CY - Cheltenham, UK ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine T1 - Frankreichs inkrementeller Weg der Kommunalreform : territoriale Konsolidierung ohne Fusion Y1 - 2013 SN - 978-3-8329-7917-1 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Bouckaert, Geert A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine T1 - Foreword T2 - Sub-Municipal Governance in Europe: Decentralization Beyond the Municipal Tier Y1 - 2018 SN - 978-3-319-64725-8 SN - 978-3-319-64724-1 SP - V EP - VI PB - Palgrave CY - Basingstoke ER - TY - BOOK A1 - Schmidt, Thorsten Ingo A1 - Wagner, Dieter A1 - Schwerdtfeger, Roswitha A1 - Schäfer, Andrea A1 - Musil, Andreas A1 - Edeling, Thomas A1 - Bauer, Hartmut A1 - Kinyakin, Andrey A1 - Loladze, Besik A1 - Nehls, Danny A1 - Maaß, Christian A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Kuckei, Daniel A. A1 - Hein, Victoria A1 - Wille, Robert A1 - Franzke, Jochen A1 - Büchner, Christiane ED - Franzke, Jochen T1 - Festschrift für Dr. Christiane Büchner in Würdigung ihres Wirkens am Kommunalwissenschaftlichen Institut (1994–2022) T3 - KWI Schriften N2 - Diese eher ungewöhnliche, aber sehr persönlich gehaltene Festschrift ist dem lang­jährigen Wirken von Dr. Christiane Büchner als „Geschäftsführerin“ am Kommunal­wissenschaftlichen Institut (KWI) der Universität Potsdam gewidmet. Die von Prof. Jochen Franzke zusammengestellte und herausgegebene Publikation enthält im ersten Teil neben dem Grußwort des Geschäftsführenden Direktors des KWI Herrn Prof. Thorsten Ingo Schmidt eine Reihe persönlicher Würdigungen von Kolleginnen und Kollegen, Gastwissenschaftlern und Mitarbeitenden, die seit 1994 in verschiedenen Phasen der Entwicklung des KWIs mit Dr. Christiane Büchner eng zusammengearbeitet haben. Der abschließende Dokumentationsteil der Publikation enthält neben Auszügen aus dem Schriftenverzeichnis von Dr. Christiane Büchner auch zwei Nachdrucke aus deren Feder zum Thema der Kreisgebietsreform in Brandenburg (von 2001) sowie über den Landkreis Barnim (von 2019). T3 - KWI-Schriften - 13 KW - Festschrift KW - Kommunen KW - Landkreise KW - Kreisgebietsreform KW - Bibliografie Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-544987 SN - 978-3-86956-529-3 SN - 1867-951X SN - 1867-9528 IS - 13 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam 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 - Bouckaert, Geert A1 - Galli, Davide A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Reiter, Renate A1 - van Hecke, Steven T1 - European coronationalism? BT - a hot spot governing a pandemic crisis JF - Public administration review N2 - The COVID-19 crisis has shown that European countries remain poorly prepared for dealing and coping with health crises and for responding in a coordinated way to a severe influenza pandemic. Within the European Union, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has a striking diversity in its approach. By focusing on Belgium, France, Germany, and Italy—countries that represent different models of administrative systems in Europe—the analysis shows that major similarities and convergences have become apparent from a cross-country perspective. Moreover, coping with the crisis has been first and foremost an issue of the national states, whereas the European voice has been weak. Hence, the countries’ immediate responses appear to be corona-nationalistic, which we label “coronationalism.” This essay shows the extent to which the four countries adopted different crisis management strategies and which factors explain this variance, with a special focus on their institutional settings and administrative systems. Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13242 SN - 0033-3352 SN - 1540-6210 VL - 80 IS - 5 SP - 765 EP - 773 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Oxford 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 - TY - JOUR A1 - Bogumil, Jörg A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine T1 - Digitale Transformation in deutschen Kommunen BT - das Beispiel der Bürgerämter und was man daraus lernen kann JF - Die Verwaltung N2 - Deutschland landet in europäischen Rankings zur Verwaltungsdigitalisierung regelmäßig im hinteren Mittelfeld. Die bisherige Bilanz der Digitalisierung für die deutsche öffentliche Verwaltung ist trotz verstärkter Anstrengungen aller föderaler Ebenen, wie sie insbesondere in der Umsetzung des Onlinezugangsgesetzes (OZG) zum Ausdruck kommen, nach wie vor als eher ernüchternd einzuschätzen. Vor diesem Hintergrund beschäftigt sich der vorliegende Beitrag mit der Umsetzung, den Hürden und ausgewählten Wirkungsaspekten der Verwaltungsdigitalisierung auf kommunaler Ebene. Die empirische Basis bildet eine 2019 abgeschlossene Studie zur digitalen Transformation in einem Schlüsselbereich bürgerbezogener Leistungserbringung, den städtischen Bürgerämtern, welche die am meisten nachgefragten kommunalen Dienstleistungen bereitstellen. Aus der Analyse lassen sich wichtige Erkenntnisse für die zukünftige Entwicklung der Digitalisierung öffentlicher Leistungserbringung in Deutschland ableiten. N2 - Germany regularly lands in the lower midfield of European public administration digitalization rankings. Despite increased efforts at all levels of government, particularly in implementing the so-called Online Access Act (OZG), the digitalization record of the German administration continues to be rather sobering. Against this background, the following article analyses the practice, hurdles and selected effects of digitalization at the local level of government. It draws on data obtained from an empirical study carried out by the authors in 2019. The study investigated the digital transformation in local one-stop shops, a key area of citizen-related service provision which deliver the local public services most frequently requested by citizens. Based on our analysis, we draw some important conclusions regarding the future developments of the digital transformation in German public service provision. Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3790/verw.54.1.105 SN - 0042-4498 SN - 1865-5211 VL - 54 IS - 1 SP - 105 EP - 132 PB - Duncker & Humblot CY - Berlin 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 - GEN A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Radtke, Ina T1 - Die Bundesverwaltung als moderner Betrieb II : Teil 4 BT - Verwaltungsreformen im internationalen Vergleich Y1 - 2015 PB - Hochschule des Bundes für öffentliche Verwaltung CY - Brühl ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine T1 - Dezentralisierung, Kommunalisierung, Regionalisierung JF - Handbuch zur Verwaltungsreform Y1 - 2019 SN - 978-3-658-21562-0 SP - 239 EP - 250 PB - Springer CY - Wiesbaden ET - 5., vollständig überarb. Aufl. ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Reiter, Renate T1 - Decentralization of the French welfare state: from 'big bang' to 'muddling through' JF - International Review of Administrative Sciences N2 - This article analyses the decentralization of the French welfare state focusing on the transfer of the Revenu minimum d’insertion (RMI) welfare benefit to the departments in 2003 and 2004. We map and explain the effects of the reform on the system and performance of the subnational provision of welfare tasks. To evaluate the impact of decentralization on the RMI-related action of the departments, we carry out a qualitative document analysis and use data from two case studies. The RMI decentralization offers an exemplary insight into the incremental implementation of French decentralization. We find many unintended effects in terms of the performance and outcome of the subnational welfare provision. This is traced back to the combining of institutional and policy reforms and the inadequate translation of high political expectations into an inadequate action programme both resulting in excessive demands on the local actors. Points for practitioners The decentralization of public tasks is associated with high expectations in terms of the effects on the performance of public services and public governance on the subnational levels. For an in-depth measure the range of administrative performance and political systems effects should be taken into account. We propose a five-dimensional scheme allowing for the determination of decentralization effects on the resource input to and the operative output of subnational public services, on the horizontal coordination between subnational task holders and the affected non-public stakeholders, on the vertical intergovernmental coordination, and on the democratic accountability of subnational authorities. KW - decentralization KW - France KW - incremental reform KW - welfare state Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/0.1177/0020852315583194 SN - 0020-8523 SN - 1461-7226 VL - 82 IS - 2 SP - 255 EP - 272 PB - Sage CY - London ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Franzke, Jochen A1 - Dumas, Benoît Paul A1 - Heine, Moreen T1 - Daten als Grundlage für wissenschaftliche Politikberatung N2 - Die vorliegende Studie zeigt, dass Daten in der Krise eine herausragende Bedeutung für die wissenschaftliche Politikberatung, administrative Entscheidungsvorbereitung und politische Entscheidungsfindung haben. In der Krise gab es jedoch gravierende Kommunikationsprobleme und Unsicherheiten in der wechselseitigen Erwartungshaltung von wissenschaftlichen Datengebern und politisch-administrativen Datennutzern. Die Wissensakkumulation und Entscheidungsabwägung wurde außerdem durch eine unsichere und volatile Datenlage zum Pandemiegeschehen, verbunden mit einer dynamischen Lageentwicklung, erschwert. Nach wie vor sind das Bewusstsein und wechselseitige Verständnis für die spezifischen Rollenprofile der am wissenschaftlichen Politikberatungsprozess beteiligten Akteure sowie insbesondere deren Abgrenzung als unzureichend einzuschätzen. Die Studie hat darüber hinaus vielfältige Defizite hinsichtlich der Verfügbarkeit, Qualität, Zugänglichkeit, Teilbarkeit und Nutzbarkeit von Daten identifiziert, die Datenproduzenten und -verwender vor erhebliche Herausforderungen stellen und einen umfangreichen Reformbedarf aufzeigen, da zum einen wichtige Datenbestände für eine krisenbezogene Politikberatung fehlen. Zum anderen sind die Tiefenschärfe und Differenziertheit des verfügbaren Datenbestandes teilweise unzureichend. Dies gilt z.B. für sozialstrukturelle Daten zur Schwere der Pandemiebetroffenheit verschiedener Gruppen oder für kleinräumige Daten über Belastungs- und Kapazitätsparameter, etwa zur Personalabdeckung auf Intensivstationen, in Gesundheitsämtern und Pflegeeinrichtungen. Datendefizite sind ferner im Hinblick auf eine ganzheitliche Pandemiebeurteilung festzustellen, zum Beispiel bezüglich der Gesundheitseffekte im weiteren Sinne, die aufgrund der ergriffenen Maßnahmen entstanden sind (Verschiebung oder Wegfall von Operationen, Behandlungen und Prävention, aber auch häusliche Gewalt und psychische Belastungen). Mangels systematischer Begleitstudien und evaluativer Untersuchungen, u.a. auch zu lokalen Pilotprojekten und Experimenten, bestehen außerdem Datendefizite im Hinblick auf die Wirkungen von Eindämmungsmaßnahmen oder deren Aufhebung auf der gebietskörperschaftlichen Ebene. Insgesamt belegt die Studie, dass es zur Optimierung der datenbasierten Politikberatung und politischen Entscheidungsfindung in und außerhalb von Krisen nicht nur darum gehen kann, ein „Mehr“ an Daten zu produzieren sowie deren Qualität, Verknüpfung und Teilung zu verbessern. Vielmehr müssen auch die Anreizstrukturen und Interessenlagen in Politik, Verwaltung und Wissenschaft sowie die Kompetenzen, Handlungsorientierungen und kognitiv-kulturellen Prägungen der verschiedenen Akteure in den Blick genommen werden. Es müssten also Anreize gesetzt und Strukturen geschaffen werden, um das Interesse, den Willen und das Können (will and skill) zur Datennutzung auf Seiten politisch-administrativer Entscheider und zur Dateneinspeisung auf Seiten von Wissenschaftlern zu stärken. Neben adressatengerechter Informationsaufbereitung geht es dabei auch um die Gestaltung eines normativen und institutionellen Rahmens, innerhalb dessen die Nutzung von Daten für Entscheidungen effektiver, qualifizierter, aber auch transparenter, nachvollziehbarer und damit demokratisch legitimer erfolgen kann. Vor dem Hintergrund dieser empirischen Befunde werden acht Cluster von Optimierungsmaßnahmen vorgeschlagen: (1) Etablierung von Datenstrecken und Datenteams, (2) Schaffung regionaler Datenkompetenzzentren, (3) Stärkung von Data Literacy und Beschleunigung des Kulturwandels in der öffentlichen Verwaltung, (4) Datenstandardisierung, Interoperabilität und Registermodernisierung, (5) Ausbau von Public Data Pools und Open Data Nutzung, (6) Effektivere Verbindung von Datenschutz und Datennutzung, (7) Entwicklung eines hochfrequenten, repräsentativen Datensatzes, (8) Förderung der europäischen Daten-Zusammenarbeit. N2 - This study shows that data is of outstanding importance for scientific policy advice, administrative decision preparation and political decision-making in the crisis. During the crisis, however, there were serious communication problems and uncertainties in the mutual expectations of scientific data providers and political-administrative data users. Knowledge accumulation and decision-making were also hampered by uncertain and volatile data on the pandemic, combined with a dynamic development of the situation. Awareness and mutual understanding of the specific role profiles of the actors involved in the scientific policy advisory process, as well as their demarcation in particular, are still to be assessed as insufficient. The study has also identified a variety of deficits with regard to the availability, quality, accessibility, shareability and usability of data, which represent considerable challenges to data producers and users and reveal a need for extensive reform, since, on the one hand, important data sets for crisis-related policy advice are lacking. On the other hand, the depth of focus and differentiation of the available data stocks are partly insufficient. This applies, for example, to socio-structural data on the severity of the pandemic impact of different groups or to small-scale data on burden and capacity parameters, such as staffing levels in intensive care units, health offices and care facilities. There are also data deficits with regard to a holistic pandemic assessment, for example with regard to the health effects in a broader sense that have arisen as a result of the measures taken (postponement or discontinuation of operations, treatments and prevention, but also domestic violence and psychological stress). In the absence of systematic accompanying studies and evaluative research, there are also data deficits with regard to the effects of containment measures or their removal at the territorial level. Overall, the study shows that optimising data-based policy advice and political decision-making in times of crisis as well as between crises is not just a matter of producing "more" data and improving its quality, linkage and sharing. Rather, the incentive structures and interests in politics, administration and science as well as the competences, action orientations and cognitive-cultural imprints of the various actors must also be taken into account. Incentives must be set and structures have to be created in order to strengthen the interest, the will and the skill to use data. This does not only apply for political and administrative decision-makers, but also for academics who are needed to feed data into the system. In addition to preparing information in a way that is appropriate for the target group, this also involves designing a normative and institutional framework within which the use of data for decision-making can be more effective, more qualified, but also more transparent, more comprehensible and thus more democratically legitimate. Against the background of these empirical findings, eight clusters of optimisation measures are proposed: (1) Establishment of data routes and data teams, (2) Creation of regional data competence centres, (3) Strengthening data literacy and accelerating cultural transformation in public administration, (4) Data standardisation, interoperability and register modernisation, (5) Expanding public data pools and open data use, (6) Linking data protection and data use more effectively, (7) Development of a high-frequency, representative data set, (8) Promoting European data cooperation. KW - Politikberatung KW - Daten KW - Wissenschaft KW - COVID-19 KW - Krise KW - Pandemie KW - Digitalisierung KW - policy advice KW - data KW - science KW - COVID-19 KW - crisis KW - pandemic KW - digitalization Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-519683 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Bouckaert, Geert T1 - Conclusion : Tensions, Challenges, and Future "Flags" of Local Public Sector Reforms and Comparative T2 - Local Public Sector Reforms in Times of Crisis : national trajectories and international comparisons Y1 - 2016 SN - 978-1-137-52547-5 SP - 347 EP - 354 PB - Palgrave Macmillan CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Jäkel, Tim T1 - Competing, collaborating or controlling? - Comparing benchmarking in European local government JF - Public money & management : integrating theory and practice in public management N2 - The way that local authorities in OECD countries compare and benchmark their performance varies widely. This paper explains some of the reasons behind the variations. The current local government benchmarking schemes in Europe their governance, coverage and impactlargely depend on the institutional characteristics of the respective administrative and local government systems (in other words, the starting conditions). There are signs that, as a result of the fiscal crisis in Europe and need to cut public sector costs, many countries (but not England and Wales) are leaning towards compulsory large-scale benchmarking projects. KW - Benchmarking KW - cross-country comparison KW - local government KW - performance assessment KW - public sector reform Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2013.799815 SN - 0954-0962 VL - 33 IS - 4 SP - 269 EP - 276 PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group CY - Abingdon ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Marienfeldt, Justine ED - Teles, Filipe T1 - Comparing local government systems and reforms in Europe BT - from new public management to digital era governance? T2 - Handbook on local and regional governance N2 - The study of subnational and local government systems and reforms has become an increasingly salient topic in comparative public administration. In many European countries, policy implementation, the execution of public tasks and the delivery of services to citizens are largely carried out by local governments, which, at the same time, have been subjected to multiple reforms and sometimes comprehensive institutional re-organizations. This chapter discusses analytical key concepts and outcomes of the comparative study of local governments and local government reforms. It outlines frameworks and analytical tools to capture the variety of institutional settings and developments at the local level of government. It provides an introduction into crucial comparative dimensions, such as functional, territorial and political profiles of local governments, and analyses current reform approaches and outcomes based on recent empirical findings. Finally, the chapter addresses salient issues to be taken up in future comparative studies about local government. KW - comparative public administration KW - local government systems KW - digitalization KW - territorial reforms KW - decentralization KW - (post) new public management Y1 - 2023 SN - 978-1-80037-119-4 SN - 978-1-80037-120-0 U6 - https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800371200.00033 SP - 313 EP - 329 PB - Edward Elgar Publishing CY - Cheltenham, UK ER - 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 T1 - Comparatice methods B BT - comparative mezhods in public administration - the value of looking around JF - Handbook of research methods in public administration, management and policy Y1 - 2020 SN - 978-1-78990-347-8 SP - 181 EP - 196 PB - Edward Elgar Publishing CY - Cheltenham ER - TY - BOOK A1 - Bogumil, Jörg A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Heuberger, Moritz A1 - Marienfeldt, Justine T1 - Bürgernahe Verwaltung digital? I-Kfz und digitaler Kombiantrag BT - Elternleistung im Praxistest T3 - FES Diskurs Y1 - 2022 UR - https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/a-p-b/19351.pdf SN - 978-3-98628-187-8 PB - Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung CY - Bonn ER -