Public Sector Reforms in Germany: Whence and Where? A Case of Ambivalence

This paper presents a critical account of thedevelopment and current state of public sectorreform in Germany. ln particular, the paper seeks toexplain why Germany appears to be a late-comer inimplementing New Public Management (NPM). lndoing so, the authors point to administrative andpolitical key traditions, recall the reform history ofthe last three decades, and finally describe thevarious discourse communities which shape thecurrent reform debate. The first part of the articletakes stock of the "assets" and "liabilities" of theGerman administrative system in the light of publicsector modernization. ln the second part, theauthors assess the recent changes in Germany'spublic sector in more detail. Although the directimpact of NPM-thinking has been rather limited sofar, so the authors conclude, the advocates of the"managerialist revolution" did their important share tothrow apen again the "window of reformopportunity"

How Many Third Ways? Comparing the British, French and German Left in Government

In the late 1990s, the European Left seemed to be once more in the ascendancy with Social Democratic-led governments in power in the majority of EU countries, including the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. At the same time, the debate about the socalled `Third Way' --- as an icon of the apparent electoral revitalization of European Social Democracy --- rose to become the most important reform discourse in the European party landscape