TY - JOUR A1 - Marienfeldt, Justine A1 - Kühler, Jakob A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Proeller, Isabella T1 - Kommunale Verwaltungsdigitalisierung im föderalen Kontext T1 - Local government digitalization in a federal context BT - ein europäischer Ländervergleich BT - a European country comparison JF - der moderne staat – Zeitschrift für Public Policy, Recht und Management N2 - Dieser Beitrag vergleicht die kommunale Verwaltungsdigitalisierung in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz (DACH-Länder) als Vertreter der kontinentaleuropäisch-föderalen Verwaltungstradition bei zugleich unterschiedlichen Digitalisierungsansätzen und -fortschritten. Basierend auf Interviews mit 22 Expert*innen und Beobachtungen in je einer Kommune pro Land sowie Dokumenten-, Literatur- und Sekundärdatenanalysen untersucht die Studie, wie Verwaltungsdigitalisierung im Mehrebenensystem organisiert ist und welche Rolle dabei das Verwaltungsprofil spielt sowie welche Innovationsschwerpunkte die Kommunen im Hinblick auf die Leistungserbringung und die internen Prozesse setzen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass der hohe Grad lokaler Autonomie den Kommunen ermöglicht, eigene Akzente in der Verwaltungsdigitalisierung zu setzen. Zugleich wirken die stark verflochtenen komplexen Entscheidungsstrukturen und hohen Koordinationsbedarfe in verwaltungsföderalen Systemen, die in Deutschland am stärksten, in Österreich etwas schwächer und in der Schweiz am geringsten ausgeprägt sind, als Digitalisierungshemmnisse. Ferner weisen die Befunde auf eine unitarisierende Wirkung der Verwaltungsdigitalisierung als Reformbereich hin. Insgesamt trägt die Studie zu einem besseren Verständnis dafür bei, welche Problematik die Verwaltungsdigitalisierung für föderal-dezentrale Verwaltungsmodelle mit sich bringt. N2 - This article compares the digitalization of local government in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH countries) as representatives of the continental European federal administrative tradition, but with different approaches to and progress in digitalization. Based on interviews with 22 experts and observations in one municipality per country as well as document, literature and secondary data analyses, the study examines how administrative digitalization is organized in the multi-level system and what role the administrative profile plays in this, as well as what innovation priorities the municipalities set with regard to service provision and internal processes. The results show that the high degree of local autonomy enables the municipalities to set their own innovation priorities. Simultaneously, the highly intertwined complex decision-making structures and need for coordination in federal administrative systems, which are most pronounced in Germany, somewhat weaker in Austria and least pronounced in Switzerland, act as barriers to digitalization. Furthermore, the findings point to a unitarizing effect of administrative digitalization as an area of reform. Overall, the study contributes to a better understanding of the problems that administrative digitalization poses for federal-decentralized administrative systems. KW - digitalization KW - administrative reform KW - local government KW - DACH countries KW - comparative case study KW - Digitalisierung KW - Verwaltungsreform KW - Kommunen KW - DACH-Länder KW - Vergleich Y1 - 2024 UR - https://www.wiso-net.de/document/DMS__98bb1422067fd8d5bd11f47f8f2651fab936d2ce U6 - https://doi.org/10.3224/dms.v17i1.03 SN - 1865-7192 SN - 2196-1395 VL - 17 IS - 1 SP - 35 EP - 59 PB - Verlag Barbara Budrich CY - Leverkusen-Opladen 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 - 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 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 - JOUR A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Proeller, Isabella A1 - Schiemanke, Dieter A1 - Ziekow, Jan T1 - German Public Administration BT - Background and Key Issues JF - Public Administration in Germany N2 - The international community of public administration and administrative sciences shows a great interest in the basic features of the German administrative system. The German public administration with its formative decentralisation (called: administrative federalism) is regarded as a prime example of multilevel governance and strong local self-government. Furthermore, over the past decades, the traditional profile of the German administrative system has significantly been reshaped and remoulded through reforms, processes of modernisation and the transformation process in East Germany. Studies on the German administrative system should focus especially on key institutional features of public administration; changing relationships between public administration, society and the private sector; administrative reforms at different levels of the federal system; and new challenges and modernisation approaches, such as digitalisation, open government and better regulation. 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_1 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - Palgrave Macmillan CY - Cham 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 - JOUR A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Laffin, Martin A1 - Wayenberg, Ellen T1 - Subnational Government in the Research Spotlight BT - the Merit of EGPA Permament study Group 5 JF - Public Administration in Europe : The Contribution of EGPA N2 - Kuhlmann, Laffin and Wayenberg point out three main strands of subnational changes that have significantly dominated the research field and focus of Permanent Study Group 5. Elaborating upon the Study Group’s contributions, the chapter overviews relevant research questions, approaches and findings that have been touched upon concerning local and regional government systems, subnational reforms and their evaluation in a multi-level governance setting. The chapter concludes with zooming in on austerity as a main driver of future developments upon and amongst all levels of government. Y1 - 2018 SN - 978-3-319-92855-5 SN - 978-3-319-92856-2 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92856-2_15 SP - 147 EP - 165 PB - Springer CY - Cham ER - TY - BOOK A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Heuberger, Moritz A1 - Dumas, Benoît Paul ED - Fleischer, Julia ED - Kuhlmann, Sabine T1 - Kommunale Handlungsfähigkeit im europäischen Vergleich. Autonomie, Aufgaben und Reformen T3 - Modernisierung des öffentlichen Sektors N2 - Angesichts neuer globaler Herausforderungen gehört eine starke kommunale Ebene zu den Grundvoraussetzungen gesellschaftlicher Problemlösungsfähigkeit. Die Stärkung kommunaler Selbstverwaltung ist daher ein wichtiges institutionen- und verwaltungspolitisches Zukunftsthema, zu welchem die vorliegende Studie einen Beitrag leisten möchte. Y1 - 2021 SN - 978-3-7489-2330-5 SN - 978-3-8487-7946-8 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748923305 SN - 0945-1072 VL - 48 IS - 1 SP - 9 EP - 124 PB - Nomos CY - Baden-Baden ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Hellstrom, Mikael A1 - Ramberg, Ulf A1 - Reiter, Renate T1 - Tracing divergence in crisis governance BT - responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in France, Germany and Sweden compared JF - International review of administrative sciences : an international journal of comparative public administration N2 - This cross-country comparison of administrative responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in France, Germany and Sweden is aimed at exploring how institutional contexts and administrative cultures have shaped strategies of problem-solving and governance modes during the pandemic, and to what extent the crisis has been used for opportunity management. The article shows that in France, the central government reacted determinedly and hierarchically, with tough containment measures. By contrast, the response in Germany was characterized by an initial bottom-up approach that gave way to remarkable federal unity in the further course of the crisis, followed again by a return to regional variance and local discretion. In Sweden, there was a continuation of 'normal governance' and a strategy of relying on voluntary compliance largely based on recommendations and less - as in Germany and France - on a strategy of imposing legally binding regulations. The comparative analysis also reveals that relevant stakeholders in all three countries have used the crisis as an opportunity for changes in the institutional settings and administrative procedures. Points for practitioners COVID-19 has shown that national political and administrative standard operating procedures in preparation for crises are, at best, partially helpful. Notwithstanding the fact that dealing with the unpredictable is a necessary part of crisis management, a need to further improve the institutional preparedness for pandemic crises in all three countries examined here has also become clear. This should be done particularly by way of shifting resources to the health and care sectors, strengthening the decentralized management of health emergencies, stocking and/or self-producing protection material, assessing the effects of crisis measures, and opening the scientific discourse to broader arenas of experts. KW - administrative culture KW - containment KW - crisis KW - governance KW - multi-level system KW - policy advice KW - public health KW - window of opportunity Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852320979359 SN - 0020-8523 SN - 1461-7226 VL - 87 IS - 3 SP - 556 EP - 575 PB - Sage Publ. CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Grohs, Stephan A1 - Bogumil, Jörg T1 - Reforming public administration in multilevel systems BT - an evaluation of performance changes in european local governments JF - Public administration and the modern state : assesing trends and impact Y1 - 2014 SN - 978-1-137-43748-8 SP - 205 EP - 222 PB - Palgrave CY - New York ER -