a republic dominated by ... 08:10 Jan 10
... (the heads of) district authorities. "Landräte-Republik" is not an official term and mainly used in inverted commas. It refers to the fact that (especially in some of the Länder = regions in East Germany) there are many districts in some regions and that the districts (and their administrators) have a considerably impact upon political decisions for the whole region. You will probably have to explain this meaning (which is actually expressed in the first sentence which you quote). | 
The translation workplace 
