Klaus König and Heinrich Siedentopf (eds.), Öffentliche Verwaltung In Deutschland
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9299.00127 |
| Published date | 01 September 1998 |
| Date | 01 September 1998 |
| Author | Morton Resen |
REVIEWS 599
O
¨FFENTLICHE VERWALTUNG IN DEUTSCHLAND
Klaus Ko
¨nig and Heinrich Siedentopf (eds.)
Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, 1996/97. 808 pp. 98 DM
O
¨ffentliche Verwaltung in Deutschland is essential reading for students, scholars and prac-
titioners interested in public administration in Germany. The book covers ten key areas of
German public administration: (1) foundation of the administrative system, i.e. its history,
constitution, societal and economic environment, development and reform; (2) organization;
(3) independence/autonomy; (4) tasks; (5) steering/planning; (6) decision (‘Entscheidung’ see
below); (7) personnel; (8) leadership; (9) political, judicial and financial control; and (10)
Europeanization/ internationalization. With 40 single contributions, divided among these ten
sections, the analysis simultaneously spans wide and goes in depth. Hence, the book is an
obvious purchase for libraries, in fact a must. The coherence and thoroughness of the book
is still so persuasive as to make it enjoyable reading and worthwhile buying for people work-
ing within this field.
The predecessor of the book is from 1981 where the somewhat smaller book (approximately
500 pages) dealt with public administration in the Federal Republic of Germany. The present
volume should not just be seen as a second, i.e. revised, edition of the Ko
¨nig/von
Oertzen/Wagener book. In fact the new book lists three reasons as to why one and a half
decades has outdated the earlier book. Obviously the event of a re-unified Germany has had
considerable importance, and a number of institutions and people are still and will be in
transition. Secondly, the issues of modernization and reform on the federal, state and local
levels have intensified and are discussed widely so that the status quo is being questioned.
Finally, the contextual factors of the EU and the global economy signify a qualitative and
substantial departure from the past.
Viewed within this framework, the thing the book does best is to be more than a mere
extrapolation of the 1981 book. What is less clear is its treatment of the three effects
(unification, modernization, globalization) in a systematic fashion. The analyses are at best ad
hoc and at worst the perspectives are neglected or forgotten entirely. In such a large volume
it is clearly difficult if not impossible to summarize and systematize the effects in a (potential)
concluding chapter, still the reader is left with a puzzle concerning the actual cumulative
importance of the three single effects as well as their relative weight.
The role of public law in Germany is central in understanding the functioning of many
processes and procedures of the administrative machinery. The book manages to convey this
message without getting wound up in too many details regarding statutes and laws. This
balance is also permitted and emphasized through the various backgrounds of the more than
forty authors. The section on ‘Entscheidung’ provides a good example. Here there is a stimulat-
ing chapter examining decisional procedures, in addition to considerations dealing with philo-
sophy of law issues. A second chapter treats the theoretical basis of public decisions and what
methods are deployed for arriving at such decisions. The discussion is structured along differ-
ent legal types and highlights controversial matters. How do we define rationality? Or even
more basic, how do we define and choose among problems and generate sufficient alternatives.
Here it is difficult to do justice to the subtleties brought up. Still, such issues are not new
altogether. They belong to the bunch of administrative dilemmas and difficulties that have
been around the discipline for decades. In a volume like this, however, it is a very welcome
approach and illustrates that notions of ‘post modern’ administration are not necessary (or,
even needed?) to make interesting analysis and reading within public administration.
Generally, the book is comprehensive in its coverage, the parts well proportioned, all the
individual contributions rigorous and well structured, in addition the style of writing always
to the point. One shortcoming of the book, bearing its volume in mind, is, however that there
is almost nothing in terms of diagrams, tables, maps or even numbers. Just to provide a few
examples, the section on organization (Aufbau) could be improved by having a couple of dia-
Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998
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