@incollection{KuhlmannMarienfeldt2023,
  author    = {Kuhlmann, Sabine and Marienfeldt, Justine},
  title     = {Comparing local government systems and reforms in Europe},
  series = {Handbook on local and regional governance},
  booktitle = {Handbook on local and regional governance},
  editor    = {Teles, Filipe},
  publisher = {Edward Elgar Publishing},
  address   = {Cheltenham, UK},
  isbn      = {978-1-80037-119-4},
  doi       = {10.4337/9781800371200.00033},
  pages     = {313 -- 329},
  year      = {2023},
  abstract  = {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.},
  language  = {en}
}
@incollection{Kuhlmann2023,
  author    = {Kuhlmann, Sabine},
  title     = {From Weberian bureaucracy to digital government?},
  series = {Handbook of public administration reform},
  booktitle = {Handbook of public administration reform},
  editor    = {Goldfinch, Shaun F.},
  publisher = {Edward Elgar Publishing},
  address   = {Cheltenham, UK},
  isbn      = {978-1-80037-674-8},
  doi       = {10.4337/9781800376748.00016},
  pages     = {207 -- 226},
  year      = {2023},
  abstract  = {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.},
  language  = {en}
}
@incollection{BogumilKuhlmann2022,
  author    = {Bogumil, J{\"o}rg and Kuhlmann, Sabine},
  title     = {The politics of administrative reforms},
  series = {Handbook on the politics of public administration},
  booktitle = {Handbook on the politics of public administration},
  editor    = {Ladner, Andreas and Sager, Fritz},
  publisher = {Edward Elgar Publishing},
  address   = {Cheltenham, UK},
  isbn      = {978-1-83910-943-0},
  doi       = {10.4337/9781839109447.00018},
  pages     = {125 -- 137},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {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.},
  language  = {en}
}