In the last 50 years, the modernization of the German municipal administration could be divided into three phases, which consisted of a modernization wave, a policy style of restrained reforming and a further wave of modernization. (Wollmann,2000) This paper investigates the interaction between local governments and federal state governments through civil servants and administrative structures and discusses the resolving institutional challenges in the communication between both levels of government in Germany. Empirically, we examine the communication process between local governments and the federal state governments of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. To further understand this communication, the paper uses empirical findings from surveys of relevant actors in the examined local governments as well as qualitative partially guided interviews with top civil servants and high-level members of the examined federal state governments in Germany. Looking at the usage of formal rules and federal law for problem-solving in local governments through bureaucratic actors this paper also includes processes of informal communication between relevant actors and analyzes and compares the effectiveness of different approaches on problem-solving in local governments: Which role do the administrative structures play in addressing and transferring different perspectives on challenges and the application of reforms in municipalities and connected structures of local government? What can be the reason for ineffective communication and different definitions of local and federal problems? Are there certain patterns in the communication between institutions and relevant actors and if so, how are they emerging? There are fundamental differences in the public administration discourse regarding effectiveness of citizen participation and e-participation programs (Lee, 2012). As a consequence, the paper investigates possible solutions for traditional and modern challenges in bureaucratic communication between local government actors and administrative structures in federal-state governments such as innovations in E-Governance processes or opportunities of digital municipalities and inter-municipal cooperation.
References
Wollmann, H. (2000) Local government modernization in Germany: between incrementalism and reform waves, Public Administration, 78(4), pp. 930.
Kim, S., Lee, J. (2012). E-Participation, transparency, and trust in local government. Public Administration Review. pp. 826
