In our paper we investigate different explanations for the variance of local governments’ responsiveness to citizens’ demands by the use of data from a field experiment. We confronted German local governments with two “ordinary” citizen requests. The speed and quality of the responses are used as dependent variables. First we explore the impact of the fiscal situation of the municipalities and its administrative capacity. Second, we analyze the impact of administrative reforms. Is it true, that NPM active municipalities respond quicker, better and without discrimination to citizen requests? Thirdly, we test for political factors: Do politically contested local governments react differently to citizen demands? Forth, we address the impact of the nature of the proposed problem: have regulatory and redistributive issues an impact on the responsiveness of local governments? Finally, we test for the characteristics of the applicant: Are minority groups and females treated differently than majority groups or males?
