The study deals with the reforms of the four major "old" federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, and Lower Saxony at the level of the state medium instance. Until now, administrative reform research has primarily focused on marginal and incremental changes. However, the examples in Baden-Württemberg and Lower Saxony demonstrate that a highly comprehensive, radical, and thus successful structural change is also possible. Markus Reiners employs an actor-oriented institutionalist approach and specifically asks which central elements stimulate and enable a radical reform. To this end, the focus is primarily directed towards the institutional backgrounds and decision-making processes. The study clarifies that the direction of modernization, the process, and the respective political outcome are significantly influenced by.