Germany and transparency are seldom found in a positive statement. When they are found in the same sentence, transparency is often modified with a preceding "no" or "not enough".
Our opinion regarding the inner workings of German government institutions pretty much matches that of Transparency International. This includes agreement on the value and the implementation of Germany's equivalent to the Freedom of Information Act. Better late than never, Germany has had it since 2005.
As we said in the previous post, much of a German's dealing with the authorities or private institutions follows the Utah alcohol model: ask exactly the right question, and thy will might be done.
The problem in both Germany and in Utah is that nobody tells you what the exact question is.
Sure, you could go and ask can you please tell me what the exact question is that I need to pose?
As in Utah, you'll draw a blank. Neither Mormon booze nor German information can be had by asking such a meta question (a question about a question).
This is where knowledge of kleiner Dienstweg can help. First, the linguistic explainer. "klein" means small, short, little, Dienstweg is a compound of "service, level of authority" and "Weg" (path, channel, way).
Shortcut would be a good term to denote the desired result but the German is more coy, all it really says is can we do it in a less formal manner, if you will. Using the term kleiner Dienstweg is also not offensive and is not a request for bending rules or for corrupt activities. It does mean finding a legal way through red tape to achieve a result that you believe would probably be the outcome of following all prescribed steps.
So, in its most benign form, kleiner Dienstweg simply speeds up a process or avoids inconveniences. Less benign forms are nepotism or outright corruption, kleiner Dienstweg then becomes nothing more than a euphemism or code for illegal activities.
If you initiate mention of kleiner Dienstweg in dealing with an official, timing is everything. Obviously, you cannot simply walk into an office of an unknown civil servant, hand over a request or application and ask if there is a kleiner Dienstweg.
Be friendly, stick to the subject of the business at hand, build a rapport, accept the authority of the official. If you then mention kleiner Dienstweg cheerfully and without waving money, you might get a response along the line of, well, there are some things we might be able to do to get this done quickly.
You may also not get a response. Don't press your luck.
If an official decides to help you beyond stamping papers and doing his or her routine job, he or she will generally explain the options and the chances of the desired outcome for each.
Take the example of an asylum seeker in a processing center. The German asylum system can assign you to any accommodation in any community. But you can apply to be sent to a specific city, and there is a process that tries to honor your request within the parameters of the system and based on how nice of a person the official is.
Our specific kleiner Dienstweg example involved an asylum seeker who had filed a request to be assigned to City A because a cousin was living there. City A is a big city with a large number of asylum seeker accommodations, so the man was probably going to be transferred there.
However, several factors combined and saw City A stop all intakes for the next six weeks. The official checked the updated transfer destinations and informed the refugee that he would be sent to Town B at the opposite end of the state. The official explained to the upset refugee that his request probably would eventually be honored but it would take several months at best.
The official then offered this option: withdraw the request, and I'll do my best to get you into one of the smaller towns within a few miles of City A. In the days of paper and typewriter, the official could have picked up the phone, made inquires and backdated withdrawal of the request once he had ascertained an alternative location. Statewide IT networks have blocked this option.
The refugee withdrew the request, risking to never be transferred to City A if the official changed his mind about helping him.
The official then picked up the phone and had a place for his charge within hours.
The refugee went to a town five minutes away from City A.
Thus, the official performed a kleiner Dienstweg maneuver to help the refugee.
How much of government business is done in this manner?
There are no figures, no metrics to measure the use of the kleiner Dienstweg, obviously.
So, let's just say it happens more frequently than you'd expect in a country like Germany, home of impartial, efficient government.
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