Wolfgang E.J. Weber, Erk Volkmar Heyen: Editorial, VII-XI
(Volltext: http://www.uni-greifswald.de/%7Elo1/ed19.htm)

I. Themenschwerpunkt

Cornel Zwierlein:
The Transformation of Theories Concerning Councils, Counselling and Counsellors in Italy during the Transition from the Middle Ages to Modern Times, 1-25

This article deals with a specific field of political theory: the process of decision making. Its approach is to correlate the epistemological shift from a normative and absolute concept of truth to an experience-based and relative one, as it occurred in the sciences during the Renaissance, with changes in political theory and practice in the same period. Firstly, so-called mirrors for princes or political treatises published in the 12th-15th centuries by John of Salisbury, Thomas Aquinas, Marsilius of Padua, William of Ockham, and Nicolas of Cusa and far diffused are analyzed. On the whole, little space is devoted to counsel. Medieval political theory generally did not concentrate on the process of deliberating, but rather on the virtues and vices of princes and tyrants. Secondly, a contemporaneous but, as regards content, rather different text is analyzed: "De regimine principum" (1277/80) by Aegidius Romanus, a hybrid patchwork of the Aristotelian corpus never using biblical or patristic sources. It devotes four entire chapters to the problems of consilium and consiliabilia, with passages even much resembling Machiavelli's work of 250 years later. Finding the true decision in a world of multi-perspectivity seems to have become the main problem of politics. Thirdly, 16th-century political treatises are analyzed as exemplary sources for this shift in political theory, concentrating on how to recognize the true solution of a given problem in a decision-making process. This focus is linked to the development in the conception of the council and the role of counsellors. As the notion of truth tended to become more and more a matter of experience and exceeded its traditional normative limits, the diversity of perspectives on the world became a major problem in politics. In theory and practice the reaction was to be found in a professionalization of expertise and in a pluralization of princely authority. The experience-based opinion of the council's majority became to be accepted as the truth, the prince being only an instance to which the decision worked out by the counsellors was to be attributed, in order to strengthen his external visibility and aura. Such early absolutist council theory and practice seems to be an import of republican, especially Florentine ways of finding the true decision for a particular political problem.

Corrado Malandrino:
Supreme Magistrate and Ephors in the Althusian Concept of Symbiotic Association, 27-52

The article describes and elaborates the general idea of a polity and its leading officials (summus magistratus and ephori) developed in the "Politica methodice digesta" (1603) of Johannes Althusius (1557-1638). Its investigation focuses on the question whether Althusius is better described as the last medieval thinker of an imperial hierarchic "federal" administration or the theorist of a new political Calvinist model and a combative city politician who defended the rights of small communities against territorial absolutism. Surely Althusius' idea of sovereignty – shared and exercised by a plurality of subjects on the basis of mutual consent and obligation – is neither completely medieval nor modern. The article seeks to delineate the original Calvinist political and administrative model that Althusius employed, where a sort of symbiotic confederalism is based on the concept of covenant and on a structure of a multilevel system of political and administrative communities (consociationes privatae et publicae). Although this pattern was not successful in the great frame of the absolutist rationalisation of political power leading to the modern State, it can be considered to be a project to establish political communities in the world (cities, provinces, confederation of provinces) on a religious, i.e. Calvinist basis. As such it opposed itself to the formation of the absolutist territorial State in Germany and formed a political discourse against the mainstream of political theory which needs to be examined. The article analyses the consequences for the conceptualisation of the leading public officials in detail.

Wolfgang E.J. Weber:
Councillors, Magistrates, and Officials in Philippe de Béthune's "Le Conseiller d'Estat" (1632), 53-83

The tract "Le Conseiller d'Estat" written by Philippe de Béthune (1561-1649), councillor of Henry IV of France, is among the treatises in the history of political thought which have hardly received any modern attention, although 15 editions appeared by 1684. At the end of the Huguenot Wars and before the absolutist reforms of Richelieu, it reflects the political-administrative situation in France and its reform requirements. It shows that the efforts of the Crown to become an assertive state authority were also desirable and imaginable from an aristocratic viewpoint. The combination of Bodin's sovereignty formula with the noble interest resulted from both differentiation and functionalisation of royal power over the nobility, but also – and more importantly – from its limitation. The sovereign, for instance, was not allowed to infringe upon the matrimonial and hereditary traditions, at least those of the high nobility. Béthune also rejected the widespread contemporary view that the monarch, in case of necessity, should be entitled to execute a minister for reasons of political relief. He furthermore supported the pursuit of family interests, especially in the context of diplomatic activities. In addition, Béthune's treatise – which was also translated into English and Italian – appears to be a primarily practical and concrete rather than academic representation of the demands of the high officials' role in a period of transition. This period was of vital importance to the development of the early modern State in two respects. In substance, it completed the transition to absolutism. Geographically and territorially, the treatise reflects the change of European hegemony from Spain to France. Whereas Spanish-based treatises on counsellors and diplomats had been consid¬ered the most important among its precursors, French contributions – starting with the writings of Richelieu and Mazarin – began to dominate the intellectual-political field in the second half of the 17th century.

Stefan Paulus:
Role and Importance of Officialdom in Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff's "Teutscher Fürsten-Stat" (1656), 85-117

The treatise "Teutscher Fürsten-Stat" by Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff (1626-1692) allows a deep insight into the administrative theory and practice of an early modern, medium-sized absolutist-patriarchal State in Central Europe. The special mixture of theory and practice made this treatise one of the most widely read publications concerning political-administrative thinking within the Holy Roman Empire for more than a century. It is an example of the development of the gradual emancipation of officials. As Seckendorff argues, officials played a central role in establishing, consolidating and extending the sovereign's State. They acted not only as a competent counselling and executive authority for the sovereign, but also mediated the sovereign's will to the subjects. Thus officialdom as seen by Seckendorff, who was a highly esteemed counsellor and official himself, can be described as the upholder of the early absolutist State. The article focuses on the structure of public administration, the relationship between the sovereign and his counsellors and officials, their qualifications and social profiles, the problems concerning their background and religious denomination as well as the question of whether they were salaried appropriately.

Erk Volkmar Heyen:
On the Abatement of Power Criticism in Lutheran Administrative Ethics: Fear of God and Justice in Funeral Texts of Clergymen and Laymen 1700-1750, 119-139

In German historical literature based on an analysis of theoretical writings of jurists and political scientists of the 17th century it is commonly accepted that administrative ethics (Beamtenethik) in that period underwent manifest deconfessionalisation and latent secularisation. However, when analyzing funeral sermons concerning Lutheran office holders one can realize that there still was a deeply rooted orthodox viewpoint belonging to the politica christiana. Because according to this normative frame all virtues of officials were aligned with fear of God and justice as understood in the Lutheran interpretation of the Bible, this administrative ethics bore an enormous potential for criticism of political power and authority, clearly opposing the contemporaneous ratio-status-literature. The article puts the question what happened with it in the first half of the 18th century.
Analyzing funeral sermons of Lutheran parish priests of that period in Northern Germany, it is shown that this kind of religion-based administrative ethics lost substance and vitality. Its rhetoric became stale and its critical strength vanished. It survived, however, to a certain extent in the funeral speeches and poems of laymen, especially school directors. But admonitions and exhortations of the living were replaced by praise of the deceased official. Sometimes another kind of thinking swept into traditional formula, hints of the coming Enlightenment. As a side effect, jurists – in the 17th century a profession of doubtful if not bad reputation in the field of faith-based administrative ethics – got a much better standing due to a higher appreciation of their technical expertise.

Gideon Stiening:
Kant's Notion of Public Office, or: "Staatsverwaltung" between Enlightenment and the Rule of Law, 141-169

This study aims to explore Kant's concept of Enlightenment – especially the distinction between public and private use of reason – in the light of his concept of public office and thus of public administration. For Kant there is no Enlightenment without a State based upon the rule of law. Negotiating these two requires a set of specific concepts centred around a wide notion Staatsverwaltung (State administration). The connection between strict obedience and reform-oriented modernity of the administration and its officials constituted the Kantian concept of enlightened bureaucracy. For the purpose of reconstructing this concept the article puts the textually widely scattered comments on administration and officaldom into a systematic coherence which Kant himself only established in a rudimentary way. It is matched with contemporaneous alternative concepts and seen in the context of Kant's own administrative service at the University of Königsberg.

Joana Estorninho de Almeida:
Between Officeholders and Employees of the State: Administrative Designations at the End of Old Regime Portugal, 171-201

The article deals with the designations and status of officials as they changed over the last centuries of Old Regime Portugal. The jurisdictional monarchy called all magistracies "ofícios" (offices), but a distinction was drawn between those designating local judicial and financial patrimonial offices and those related to the lettered magistrates in the service of the Crown. The latter were called "cargos" (charges). This term meant a different kind of appointment and a distinct social status that was described by a prolific literature. Progressively, a different understanding of ofícios developed in what concerned merely administrative occupations, such as the posts of scribes and secretaries, that did not have any jurisdiction. These officials were mere executors of tasks and orders. Their dependency on their superiors tended to introduce an alternative model of administration. The creation and development of secretariats of State with their staff hierarchically established formalized this distinct kind of organizational paradigm within the political pluralism of Old Regime Portugal. Eventually, in the middle of 18th century, under the direction of the Marquis of Pombal, new conceptions of society and political power were used to develop a series of State reforms. The main courts received new plans and new institutions were created. The organizational model was that of direction and hierarchy. New categories of officials were established, such as the inspector (inspector) and the intendente (manager), giving their holders no ownership of the position anymore. Legislative measures were undertaken in order to put an end to all patrimonial offices and to implement a salary system. Instead of office holders owning their office, officials were increasingly considered public employees, subjected to an occupation and limited by public interest, as the sovereign understood it. This new conception was first of all realized in order to rationalize the administrative structure, responding to inner administrative necessities. Nevertheless, the Crown profited from it in order to establish the State monopoly of power.

II. Varia

Erk Volkmar Heyen:
Books and Desks in Early Modern Portraits of Office Holders. On the Iconography of the Orientation of Political-Administrative Behaviour, 205-246

This article begins by considering portraits of cardinals dating from the 15th and early 16th century. Their common characteristic is the identification with the Church Fathers St. Hieronymus and St. Augustinus taken as models of Christian piety and humanistic erudition. Then, turning away from the Papal States and the high clergy to secular office holders, portraits of jurists come to the fore. It is remarkable that in the 17th century in some portraits books clearly indicated their juridical and political content, leaving religious aspects of orientation aside. This applies to representatives and officials of cities as well as to ministers of States. But in the course of the 18th century references to the official's education, especially to contents of books shown in the portrait, disappeared and books became mere accessories. Obviously, next to resemblance of features, sophisticated clothing indicating the official's social position and ambition was much more important, for painters as well as for patrons. By contrast to books, desks retained their optical weight in the portraits of office holders. However, a change of function can be observed. The desk no longer symbolized a place of learning beyond the business of the day, a place to keep or elaborate valid knowledge, but a place of information and communication, related to certain situations. Thus, orientation of political-administrative behaviour is shown as a question of situation instead of a question of principle, and consequently concomitant emotions became salient.

III. Forum

Luca Mannori:
State, Local Bodies and Public Administration in Early Modern Italy. A Review of Recent Studies, 249-269

The late genesis of regional Italian principalities during the 14th and 15th centuries coincided with the end of those medieval urban liberties which, according to a tradition generally shared for a long time, were regarded as the highest point of development of the country before its unification in 1860. Far from being a factor of progress and civilisation, the new territorial State appeared to have choked the democratic life inside of the liberi comuni without being able to build a single, strong national monarchy. It seemed to be nothing more than an instrument of oppression, division and political corruption, therefore unworthy of any serious effort of historical comprehension. This harsh verdict was maintained, with few exceptions, until about 40 years ago, when the gradual adoption of a new, less lofty view of medieval Italy spurred the historians of 15th and 16th centuries to look at their regional States with a more respectful attitude. At the end of a long debate, specialists of the medieval period realized that the commune civium was not a self-sufficient, democratic society, but an unsteady grouping of families, clients and multifarious corporations, with no clear project of bonum commune. So, the coming of the territorial sovereigns could be read, now, as an attempt to create a more stable political order, after the so-called city-state had reached the end of its trajectory.
From the beginning of the 1970s, this change of perspective inaugurated a new, fruitful trend of research. The literature reviewed in this article stands out primarily in its effort to define the constitutional pattern of Italian regional States, which can hardly be compared to the classic European Idealtypen, like the Ständestaat or the absolutist State. In fact, the constitution of the typical Italian State assumes the shape of a sort of confederation of different cities and territories, connected together by a network of bilateral political agreements. In keeping with this kind of heavily decentralized structure, the prince's main job was to keep the balance among the various parties of his State, leaving all other administrative tasks to the care of local authorities. The recourse to this practice of government, which in the past was often judged as a sign of weakness on the part of the central powers, is now regarded by the majority of historians as a specific and successful strategy which engendered civil order and political stability without offending the strong sense of identity of the local élites. The second part of the article briefly expounds how this technique evolved during the period covering the 16th to the 18th centuries, by reviewing some of the main contributions on the subject which have appeared in the last 20 years.

Pieter Wagenaar / Joris van Eijnatten:
Dutch Administrative Thought and Practice during the Early Modern Period. A Review Essay, 271-284

During the early modern Dutch Republic little was published on how to manage public administration. The meagre production may be explained by the Republic's lack of central administration and the concomitant absence of a substantial bureaucracy. In addition, the rise of republican political theory did little to foster administrative thought. Thus, it is not astonishing that there is rather little research concerning this field. However, some research has been done recently on Dutch attitudes towards administration. These studies reflect, to a greater or lesser extent, the influence of the so-called cultural turn in historical research. Special attention is paid to an issue many early modern thinkers were concerned about, namely the problem of political, religious, and administrative unity. In this review essay three categories of studies on Dutch administrative thinking and acting are discussed. The first consists of a mixture between cultural history and more traditional approaches, concerning the De Witt brothers and stadtholder Willem Frederik. In the second category are put traditional approaches of political and social history, concerning the government of towns or important officials like, for instance, Lieuwe van Aitzema, Laurens Pieter van de Spiegel and Andries Schimmelpennink van der Oije. Finally, there is a book on the Dutch Republic's officials, which is such an extreme example of cultural history (rejecting a theoretically informed conceptual framework relating to public administration), that it forms a category on its own.

Pawel Cichon:
Administration in Early Modern Poland. A Literature Survey (1995-2005), 285-298

The article presents recent Polish books and articles on the history of Poland's administration from the 16th to the 18th century. General introductions to the history of public administration are also mentioned. As far as the early modern period is concerned, they concentrate on the second half of the 18th century, especially the reforms that the "Four-Year-Diet" 1788-1792 brought about and that gave Poland a modern constitution and a modern administrative organization. It was the nobility dominating over most of the time considered that slowed down reorganization of the administrative machinery until 1763, before the reign of Stanislaw II Poniatowski, a favourite of Tsarina Catherine II. Later reforms took up some western European solutions, as far as they did not threaten the character of Poland as a republic of the nobility (Adelsrepublik). By contrast to States inspired by absolutism, the structure, function and practice of Polish authorities were explicitly bound to law. The fundamental features of the development of the Polish administration as outlined by the textbooks are corroborated by the findings of the books and articles mentioned in the survey. They are presented in three sections: central administration; regional and local administration; police and finances.

Gilles Guglielmi:
The History of French Administrative Law as an Object of Research (2001-2006), 299-308

The review essay shows that since 2000 the main publications on French administrative law have overcome the traditional separation between a juridical and a sociological research type, between seeing public administration as action and seeing it as an institution. French historians of administrative law now work as much on social mentalities as on legal facts, as much on interpretation of texts as on standards of behaviour. The aim is to better understand what administrative law is about and how its historiography should be built. Some of the works under review proceed to a reasoned reconstruction of the emergence of the legal constituents of administrative jurisdiction: the Conseil d'Etat and the conseils de préfecture. Others realize a new overview of the evolution of administrative jurisdiction before as well as after the French Revolution. Other works, finally, attempt to decipher the inspirations which French administrative law took from private law or from colonial law. Thus, the current blossoming of research in history of French administrative law is remarkable and begins to fill the deficit, noticed in the field of substantive law, in understanding the devices of power and their legal technology.

Axel Rüdiger:
"Staatswissenschaften" or Theory of Governance? A Critical View of the Literature on the Genesis and Future of Statehood, 309-331

The current crisis of the State as a form of polity is not only hotly debated in politics but has also inspired a new scholarly interest in the State in past, present and future in the course of which the specific tradition of German Staatswissenschaften has again become a focus of interest. Helge Peukert, for example, asks whether the older Staatswissenschaften can serve as a reference point for contemporary problems of political and economic regulation. Gunnar Folke Schuppert, by contrast, aims at a renewed Staatswissenschaft that has cast off its roots and centers on the concept of governance. In any case, Staatswissenschaft faces the need for State transformation under globalized conditions. For Pierre Bourdieu, however, it was the implicit relationship between State and science which required both a radical critique of knowledge and a sociology of science approach. Only if the self-description of the State through science is reflected in science will it be possible to discover the dynamic and political structure behind the essentialist veneer of the State. There is a homology between the struggles within the field of science and the field of administration. Acknowledging this, the historical analysis leads directly to the current political problems of government and administration. The article reviews some recent historical publications in the field. Finally, the new culturalistic approach to political history is confronted with the problem of power and domination. Is it possible to describe the process of modern State building only within a cultural framework and without any reference to antagonism and domination?

Bernd Wunder:
Administration as a Cave-Dwelling Olm? Some heckling on a culturalistic approach to administrative history, 333-344

The article reviews a book by Stefan Haas, a Habilitationsschrift presented at the University of Münster, published in 2005. Translated into English, its title runs as follows: "The Culture of Administration: The Implementation of Prussian Reforms 1800-1848". As the title indicates, the book aims to present a new approach to administrative history. The author makes use of two methodological paths, due to implementation theory and communication theory. Meanwhile, the reception of implementation theory in administrative historiography is accepted. The interpretation of administration as a closed system of communication, however, is a new one in historical research. Unfortunately, the author neglects all executive functions of administration and levels off the hierarchical communication existing between superiors and subordinates, changing it into a horizontal one. In this way, as the article shows, he misrepresents and distorts the working of public administration. Although large parts of the book are valuable and enrich the knowledge about the implementation of the Prussian reforms, methodological bias leads to mistakes and misunderstandings. Haas portrays, so to speak, an olm, that is an animal living completely isolated in a cave, not the Prussian reform administration within its German and European context. The example of this book proves that a cultural history of administration should not neglect the results of previous administrative historiography, but has to be built upon it if it is to be fruitful.

Gideon Stiening:
Recent Literary and Cultural Studies on the Poetic Reflection of Bureaucracy and Administration, 345-358

This overview informs about some recent publications on the relationship of literature and bureaucracy in literary and cultural history which overtly follow a cultural-studies paradigm. It is shown that these works rely to a large extent on Michel Foucault's analysis of discourse and Friedrich Kittler's "Mediologie" by basing their perspective on the history of administration on a broader critique of rationality and modernity. It is this basis which makes subjects such as files, stenography or the culture of secretaries, seemingly part of cultural history, appear as categories of historiography. The second part of this article focuses on an extended review of Kerstin Stüssel's cultural-studies approach in her work "In Vertretung. Literarische Mitschriften von Bürokratie und Verwaltung zwischen Früher Neuzeit und Gegenwart" (translated into English: "Per Procurationem. Literary Notes from Bureaucracy and Administration between the Early Modern Period and the Present"), Tübingen 2004. The hermeneutical achievements and limits of culturalist literary history of administration are demonstrated with reference to Stüssel's work.

Anschriften der Verfasser, 371-372