Protecting the population in a multilevel system: horizontal and vertical informal governance patterns in Germany

In Germany, the laender hold most of the powers relevant for protecting the population. After the end of the Cold War, they had realized a substantial peace dividend. Yet after 9/11, they have been confronted with a number of new (or newly realized) challenges, and a new governance pattern evolved that requires more intense co-operation between the laender and other levels of the political system. Furthermore, in the light of fiscal austerity and a certain euphoria for privatization, the private sector has become very much involved in formal and informal disaster management networks with state actors on all levels. Our paper traces this development in detail, explains its causes and gauges its impacts in terms of both effectiveness and democratic accountability. It is based on twenty expert interviews with state representatives on all levels of government as well as private actors representing different types of companies, and it especially focuses on the involvement of hospitals in emergency planning, electrical power network management (including reactions to blackouts), recent changes at firefigthers’ co-ordination centers, and, as a cross-cutting issue, the role of Information Technology (IT).