Bureaucracy brake: legal monopoly: science identifies obstacles to reform in the administration

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Empirical studies prove this: The massive overrepresentation of decision-makers trained in law systematically inhibits administrative modernization - a problem that must be taken into account in state reform.

Legal dimension of the bureaucracy problem

Calls for a more efficient state are currently dominating the political agenda. The SPD, CDU/CSU and Greens are calling for a "better functioning state", while business associations and local authorities are demanding "fundamental changes to government action".

The German government's "Lebenslagenbefragung" survey consistently shows that the "comprehensibility of the law" is the biggest criticism of official services - both for citizens and companies. In public perception, this problem ranks even higher than the lack of digitalization.

"Legal dominance" as an obstacle to reform

Numerous studies identify the "legal monopoly" in top administrative positions as a major obstacle to reform:

• Prof. Dr. Gerhard Hammerschmid (Hertie School) stated in 2020 that the pronounced importance of legal perspectives must be questioned.
• In 2012, researchers at the University of Potsdam empirically demonstrated a significant negative effect of a law degree on managers' willingness to reform.
• The "German Academy of Science and Engineering" explicitly recommends "counteracting the one-sided focus on legal qualifications".

Competence reform instead of personnel restructuring

Former federal constitutional judge Prof. Dr. Andreas Voßkuhle, co-initiator of an expert initiative for an "effective state", takes a more nuanced view of the problem: "Basically, I think it makes sense for the administration to have a lot of people who are good at dealing with the law. But they should also be able to do other things."

Voßkuhle advocates a broader skills profile: "Solving cases is important, but other skills are also very important: modern personnel management, communication training, economic competence, mediation, context analysis, impact research, acceptance management."

Training reform as a solution

The empirical deficits in legal training are striking:

• According to the Center for Higher Education Development (2023), law performs particularly poorly in the promotion of future skills - especially digital skills, collaboration skills and innovation and change skills.
• Student surveys conducted by the University of Konstanz confirm these shortcomings from a student perspective.

Democratic relevance of administrative modernization

Today's legal training stems from a time when administration served to enforce the authority of the state. In a modern democracy, in which all power emanates from the people, a different administrative culture is required.

Voßkuhle therefore emphasizes that the state's inability to function is not just a functional problem, but a genuine democratic problem. A modern administration requires service orientation instead of a hierarchical authority mentality.

If law wants to live up to its social responsibility, it must fundamentally modernize its educational concepts.

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