New publications in the first quarter 2025 by Professor Christoph Demmke (open-access)
Christoph Demmke, Differentiated representation of Nordic staff in the EU institutions, In Anne Pintsch, Tor-Inge Harbo, Lars Oxelheim (Eds.), 2025, Differentiated Integration in a Nordic Perspective, Routledge, pp.81-99.
The Nordic EU states face increasing underrepresentation among the staff in the EU-Institutions. This situation may strengthen critical (populist) attitudes towards the EU if the EU recruitment system and the EU administrative as such are blamed for this situation. This chapter discusses differentiated employment patterns of Nordic employees in the EU in the context of managing conflicting objectives and values amongst the Member States and the EU institutions (mostly the European Commission). It reviews the strategies, policies, instruments and measures adopted and implemented by Nordic countries in order to secure national influence in EU-recruitment policies and by promoting EU career opportunities for nationals.
Christoph Demmke, Civil Service Adaptation and Reform in the Context of (de-) Europeanisation, in Sommermann, K.P et al. (eds.) (2025), Civil Service in Europe: A Research Companion, Routledge, pp.941-968.
The relationship between European governance and national civil service reform is a fascinating and intriguing subject. Although the European Union (EU) has no treaty related competences to decide on civil service issues, the EU nonetheless influences the reform of national civil services in many different ways, with ever new governance styles, policies and an ever-broader menu of instruments. However, as we will see, European governance styles have not only expanded but have also become more differentiated with regard to the national civil services. In this chapter we will study the specific effects of different patterns of European governance on domestic civil service reform policies and vice versa: How do the national civil services respond to the changing EU-Integration process? How have EU-related incentives, rewards, instruments, attitudes and governance styles changed over the last decades?
Demmke, C. (2025). Werte im öffentlichen Dienst und Integrität. In: Wolf, S., Meyer, O. (eds) Handbuch Korruptionsforschung. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-42592-0_60-1.
In all countries, societal value change is a result of increasing individualization (Beck), singularization (Reckwitz), self-optimization (Bröckling, 2013; King et al., 2021; Röcke, 2021) and continuous “acceleration” (Rosa, 2005).
However, this does not translate into a decline of values nor the rejection of the state or public administration. Contrary to this, it seems more people expect too much and too little from the state – at the same time. On the one hand, they call for a strong state (a “Leviathan”), law and order, and more state protection in traditional core state functions like security and protection. On the other hand, people place less trust in the ability of the state to solve the classical state tasks, crises, and also their problems. On the other hand, public policies place more emphasis on personal responsibility (instead of state support and state responsibility). Growing individualism and enhanced self-responsibility are also linked with self-awareness. In addition, there is a growing emphasis on one’s vulnerability and moral injury, defined as the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being harmed, either physically or emotionally, depending on the belonging of different groups and group identities. The article discusses the development of public values in the case of Germany.
