Main Research Area: Local Politics and Multi-level Administration

The research area "local politics and mult-level administration" has a long tradition in our institute. Local authorities are the most important actors in policy implementation in a federal state. Local politics and administration are even more closely entangled than at other levels of government. Policy-, polity- and politics-aspects of local policy-making can thus be understood and explained only if its embededdness in political, administrative and fiscal multi-level relations is systematically taken into account. In particular, current research at the institute focuses on local government elites; on the political and administrative implementation of local policies (e.g. housing, social and sustainability policy); as well as on local finances