A Stable System Turning Rigid: Public Sector Reform in Germany

Joachim Jens Hesse

International Review of Public Administration, 2001, vol. 6, issue 2, 27-38

Abstract: For decades, the (West) German public sector was almost unanimously considered as being unusually successful in securing political stability, economic success and social welfare. During the last years, however, the Federal Republic seems to lag behind the international development in administrative reform, as its governmental arrangements have proven extremely difficult to adapt to the “double challenge” of unification and Europeanisation. The following contribution, first, analyses the structural characteristics and past performance of the governmental system of the Federal Republic. It, then, seeks to highlight the most pressing reform needs by examining the contextual changes to the public sector during the 1990s. On this basis, different options for administrative reform are being discussed, before taking a speculative view on the future of the public sector. These considerations result in an overall sceptical assessment of the continuing stability (and indeed adaptability) of the German governmental system.

Date: 2001
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DOI: 10.1080/12294659.2001.10804977

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