Evaluating Administrative Modernization in German Local Governments: Success or Failure of the “New Steering Model”?
基于广泛实证，评估德国地方政府十多年新公共管理改革的效果，发现并未实现从韦伯式官僚制到新公共管理的范式转变，绩效虽有提升但新工具带来意外后果，导致官僚制复归。
This article evaluates the results and impacts of administrative modernization in Germany after more than 10 years of New Public Management experience, concentrating on the most advanced level of public sector reform: local authorities. Drawing on a broad empirical basis, the authors pursue the following questions: Do “Weber‐ ian” administrative structures and processes continue to characterize the German public sector, or have the reforms left behind lasting traces of a managerial administration? Are local authorities performing better today, and if so, can this be attributed to the New Public Management modernization? The presented results show that no paradigm shift from the “Weberian” bureaucracy to New Public Management has occurred so far. Performance improvements notwithstanding, the new mix of steering instruments causes numerous unintended consequences, causing “Weberian” administration to reemerge.