Simplification of state administration

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The simplification of the state administration , or state simplification for short , was a political program in Bavaria and other countries of the German Empire at the time of the Weimar Republic with the aim of simplifying, accelerating, making cheaper or otherwise improving the state administration and its administrative processes. The simplification of state administration is still one of the most important elements in the discussion about reducing bureaucracy .

history

The goal of “simplifying the state” was already a political slogan in the kingdoms of Württemberg and Bavaria during the German Empire . After the formation of the Weimar Republic and the resulting changes in financial and constitutional conditions, this goal was approached in Bavaria , but also in other countries of the German Empire.

Bavaria

Soon after the end of the war, a discussion about simplifying the state began in Bavaria, which was implemented in the Bavarian cabinet with the end of the Soviet Republic in Bavaria . Initially, the individual state ministries were responsible for simplifying state administration under the auspices of a special simplification department in the interior ministry under Minister Karl Stützel . In 1927, a “Commission for Administrative Simplification” was formed from ministerial officers under the leadership of the former District President Theodor von Winterstein . The reform of the state administration implemented in Bavaria from 1928 to 1932 took place at all levels. The most important results were the dissolution of three state ministries (economy, social affairs, agriculture) and the amalgamation of the administrative districts of Lower Bavaria and Upper Palatinate as well as Upper and Middle Franconia . There was also a reduction in authorities at the middle and lower administrative level. 31 local courts, three regional courts and the Augsburg Higher Regional Court were also dissolved.

Individual measures such as the dissolution of the Bavarian Foreign Ministry and its transfer to a State Chancellery in 1933 were justified by the National Socialists with a simplification of the state, but rather served the purpose of disempowering the states that were in fact only imperial provinces from 1934. The fact that the goal of administrative simplification was not a priority for the National Socialists is shown by the situation of the Bavarian state government during the Nazi era, which had powerful competitors with the Gauleitung of Munich-Upper Bavaria and the authority of Reich Governor Franz von Epp (the so-called Reich Governor's Office) Competencies were not clearly separated from each other. Rather, a rival juxtaposition of overlapping competencies of the state and the NSDAP could be observed throughout the entire German Reich , a polycracy in which Adolf Hitler always claimed the ultimate power of decision.

Württemberg

The goal of “simplifying the state” was also pursued in Württemberg . In addition to the dismantling of authorities at the middle and lower administrative level, the four previous district governments ( Donaukreis in Ulm , Neckarkkreis in Ludwigsburg , Jagstkreis in Ellwangen and Schwarzwaldkreis in Reutlingen ), which also served as administrative courts of first instance, were dissolved in 1924 .

German Empire

The Reich also took part in the dismantling of its administration in Bavaria by decreeing the abolition of 57 tax offices and various customs and supply authorities by 1934. Across the country, an attempt was made to simplify administrative processes , particularly at the state railroad . The drastic austerity policy of Chancellor Heinrich Brüning at the beginning of the 1930s was then justified with the aim of "simplifying the state", but was due in particular to the catastrophic financial situation at the time due to the global economic crisis .

After the Second World War

Efforts to simplify the state were resumed after the Second World War. In the 1950s there was a working group for state simplification in Bavaria under the President of the Bavarian Administrative Court, Jakob Kratzer , which prepared reports on state simplification. As a result, from 1957 onwards, the state legal provisions in Bavaria were cleaned up and collected. There was also an “Administrative Simplification Plan” in Baden-Württemberg (1958) and an “Administrative Reform Plan” for Schleswig-Holstein (1958). In the 1960s, it came after a restructuring of the country was largely failed, mainly due to the county and municipality level, sometimes at the level of administrative districts to regional reforms , which were often justified with a simplification of the state administration. In the 1970s, further administrative simplifications were made under the key words “closeness to the citizen” and “citizen-friendliness”. From 1978 onwards, various state commissions were set up again. B. "Commission for the legal and administrative simplification" or "Citizenship in the administration" indicated the target direction. followed by the federal government with the establishment of an "Independent Commission for Legal and Administrative Simplification", which has existed continuously since then. The debate about the reduction of bureaucracy received an important impetus in 1997 from the Berlin speech of the then Federal President Roman Herzog , who denounced the “regulatory rage” in Germany. Today, however, the focus of the discussions is more on the general topic of reducing bureaucracy and thus reducing the over-regulation of the authorities' actions.

See also

literature

  • Martin Brüggemeier, Klaus Lenk (Hrsg.): Reduction of bureaucracy in administrative execution. Better regulation between go-government and no-government (= e-government and the renewal of the public sector. Vol. 12). Edition Sigma, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-89404-842-6 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Implementation of simplification measures in accordance with the memorandum of the Commission for Simplification in State Administration , Württemberg, 1914ff.
  2. ^ Negotiations of the Chamber of Reichsräte and the Bavarian Chamber of Deputies from April 29th. or 9.5.1916 regarding simplification and cheaper state administration , Bavaria, 1916.
  3. ↑ Michael Unger: Simplification of the state administration (Weimar Republic) , here: dismantling of authorities at the middle and lower administrative level.
  4. ^ Peter Hüttenberger: National Socialist Polycracy , History and Society, 2nd year, issue 4, Das Nationalozialistische Herrschaftssystem (1976), pages 417-442.
  5. ↑ Leobold Hegelmaier: The Württ. State simplification of 1924 , WüRV. 21 (1928) pp. 33ff., 65ff.
  6. ↑ Independent Commission for Legal and Administrative Simplification: Development Phases of Public Administration in Germany , p. 191.
  7. ↑ Manfred Miller : Preliminary studies on the organization and reform of state administrations (= Speyerer research reports. 149), 1983, p. 13 ff.
  8. ↑ Martin Brüggemeier, Klaus Lenk: Bureaucracy Reduction in Administrative Execution , 2011, p. 111.