Participatory Administration and Co-production

Abstract

The German administrative system is well known for its time-honoured subsidiarity principle regarding the delivery of social and welfare services, especially at the local level. The public (municipal) sector is only allowed to provide these welfare services if the civil society, welfare organisations and citizens’ initiatives are not able to do it on their own. Against this background, the co-production of public services is deeply rooted in the German administrative culture. However, in more recent times, often prompted by fiscal problems, but also triggered by an increasing demand for more citizen participation, the co-production of services and the involvement of multiple actors have gained increasing importance. Against this backdrop, the chapter outlines these shifts from ‘traditional’ modes of service delivery and decision-making to co-producing features and participatory elements. It also addresses some of the resulting key problems and pitfalls, such as accountability, transparency and legitimacy.