Local Government and Governance in Germany

Hellmut Wollmann born in 1936. In 1970-71 Kennedy Memorial Fellow at Harvard University. Professor of Public Administration at the Free University of Berlin (1974 to 1993) and at Humboldt University of Berlin (1993-2003). Chairman (1980-1996) of the IPSA Research Committee on the Comparative Study of Local Politics and Government. Guest professorships among others in Moscow, Beijing, Tokyo, Paris, Florence and Gothenburg). Main fields of research and publications on comparative government and public administration with a focus on subnational levels. Among recent publications: Public and Social Services in Europe (co-edited with I. Kopric and G. Marcou) Palgrave 2016, Introduction to Comparative Public Administration (co-authored with S. Kuhlmann and R. Reiter), 3rd ed., Edward Elgar 2024/25.

• Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Position and Functions of Local Government in Germany’s Federal Multi-Level System.- Chapter 3. Local Political Actors and Processes.- Chapter 4. Local Administration.- Chapter 5. Digitisation of Public and Local Administration.- Chapter 6. Local Government Personnel.- Chapter 7. Local Government Finances.- Chapter 8. Provision of Public and Personal Social Services.- Chapter 9. Combatting Unemployment.- Chapter 10. Assisting of Asylum Seekers and Refugees.- Chapter11. Involvement in the “Energy Transition” (“Energiewende”).- Chapter 12. Extended Responsibilities in the School Sector.- Chapter 13 Responses to the Covid-19 Pandemic.- Chapter 14. “Comeback” of Local Government in East Germany Following German Unification.- Chapter 15. Summary and Conclusions.