Mandarins or managers? The bureaucratic elite in Bonn, 1970 to 1987 and beyond

Overall, within the broad descriptive framework of the comparative-elites study, the special impact of New Public Management (NPM) on the German federal government is considered, but judged marginal. The mandarin status of the administrative elite prevails, despite a long-term decrease in the share of jurists and more open career patterns, both due to a first managerialist turn in the 1970s. It is argued that new administrative policies are carried out like any other substantive policy. On the polity dimension, the bureaucracy's function as the center of expertise is reflected in terms of both formal education and subjective role understanding. On the policy dimension, the 1970 reformist agenda of the Brandt government resulted in higher programmatic commitment than at the point of replication of the base line study in 1987, when the Kohl government was consolidating public finances. Under conditions such as those prevailing after national unification in 1990 and since about 1995, though, top administrators can turn quite managerial. The most significant change is observed on the politics dimension: growing party politicization of the administrative elite, in particular after fundamental government changes (1969, 1982, 1998) examined here. Functional as it may be for streamlining the ministries, the extent of party patronage may, in the long run, undermine the still-high trust in executive institutions in Germany.