Communication between politicians and public managers ‐ Findings of the communication networks from political and administrative elites in Germany

Changes and improvements in public management are depending on
the relationships and cooperation between politicians and public
managers. The cause of the complexity lies in the distinction between
political and managerial rationality (e.g. Kuhlmann/Bogumil/Grohs
2008: 855f., Schedler/Proeller 2006: 64). Most of the findings for the
improvement of public management demand a better convergence or
coordination between them. But only few are focusing on how this
communication process could be improved, and it seems to be challenging to figure out who is in charge for this fundamental coordination role.
Normative models and theories concerning the relationship of politics
and management do exist and are elementary of the theoretical models of political leadership: the hierarchical, cooperative and/or responsive administration. The classification is rather intuitively and need to be empirically tested. The overall research question is: To which normative model of political leadership do the communication structures in Germany correspond? This scientific research question is operationalized and split up into two research questions (a) Who is communicating with whom (depending on the position in the political or administrative system)? and (b) How frequently do they communicate? are answered and visualized from the perspective of the interviewed actors of the political and administrative elites on German federal and Länder (Bavaria, Hesse) level. The results show that the main and regular communication is still following vertical lines according to the bureaucratic, hierarchical system. In addition, an extensive web of regular horizontal communications and other direct interactions e.g. between head of departements and members of parliament occur.
To anticipate one of the main conclusions, the prominent role of the
politicians in office, Minister and (Parliamentary) Secretary of State
can be confirmed. It is their responsibility to mediate the political
requirements from the parliament and government into 'their' administrative machineries. Thus it appears that the suspected empowerment of administrative machinery is caused by the unattended political leadership and thereby by the government themselves.