Manfred Zach

"Gauner, Pinsel, Chicaneure" (crooks, fobs and bullies) is Freiherr von Knigge's characterization of bureaucrats. The author of Germany's most famous book on etiquette and human relations was himself a bureaucrat. Manfred Zach, one of Lothar Späth's apostles and later bureaucrat in Baden-Württemberg, probably sees himself as a 20th century successor of educating the people about the pleasures and foibles in public administration.

This is a paean to bureaucracy and to bureaucrats. Far from perfect, their struggles with complexity and the weirdness of daily life through the centuries offers plenty of humorous situations for Zach's collection. As Bismarck said, "bad laws and good bureaucrats may work out. Good laws are no help against bad bureaucrats." ("Mit schlechten Gesetzen und guten Beamten läßt sich immer noch regieren. Bei schlechten Beamten helfen die besten Gesetze nichts."), a country should seek to create a professional bureaucracy. Instead of seeing them as always being part of the problem, the government mostly tries to help its citizenry, hampered by its rule-based modus operandi. Thus, before the government can act, it has to discuss whether flies are to be considered "wild animals" (they are).

Given all the levity of Zach's examples, a counterpoint of when government acts with "imperium" against its citizens and foreigners might have been helpful to present the full range of governmental activities. Zach's funny collection certainly succeeds in presenting the humorous aspects of public administration.… (more)