Local governance and accountability in Germany

Traditionally German local political system is characterized by high level of multi-functionality. The local administration is formally responsible for most government functions, either in its own domain or as an institution implementing predominantly national but also regional policies (übertragener Wirkungskreis). However, during the two recent decades, German local government has been facing major challenges. First, local government suffers – as national and state governments do – from a decline in citizens’ support, declining voter turnout at local elections and local political protest, especially regarding major infrastructural projects (online and offline). These challenges from civil society were paralleled by major institutional reforms giving citizens more say in local decision-making for example by introducing binding local referenda and the direct election of mayors in all states. Secondly, these developments were accompanied by financial stress resulting in privatization strategies, growing public-private-partnerships, intercommunal co-operations, and a growing third sector development (Public-Civil society-Partnership). Currently, a counter development is on its way: As some of the privatization projects and PPPs from the 1990s failed or collapsed, in a couple of cities further privatizations were rejected by citizen in local referendums. Citizen and municipalities opted for quasi-local governmental agencies (Stadtwerke). In a couple of cities and inter-municipal networks (communal cooperation new Stadtwerke were founded. This trend of re-communalization signals a potential revival of relatively independent Stadtwerke in the field of energy, water, transport etc. Nevertheless – even if we take into account a somehow turning trend – important local public decision are increasingly made and implemented by other, (non-governmental), local and regional actors or in partnerships with such agents. In order to answer the two main questions of the project: • What local democratic reforms were implemented – against the backdrop of changes in systems of local governance (the “relocation of politics”) -- in the last 25 years in local government systems in selected Western countries? • What are the strengths and weaknesses of these reforms in terms of increasing local democratic accountability? the biggest research problem in Germany as a federal system and local government being part of state legislation, is, to collect data regarding the relevant concepts addressing to study local accountability. In this paper we will give a first overview of the data that is available to describe the reforms that have taken part in the different states and then try to give a first interpretation of the effects regarding changes in local political accountability in Germany.