Societal Security and Crisis Management

This book studies governance capacity and governance legitimacy for societal security and crisis management. It highlights the importance of building organizational capacity by focusing on the coordination of public resources and underscores the relevance of legitimacy by emphasizing the importance of public perceptions, attitudes, and trust vis-à-vis government arrangements for crisis management. The authors explore several cases and identify relevant dimensions concerning performance, capacity and legitimacy across different countries. It is an ideal volume for audiences interested in public administration, public policy, crisis management and security studies.

Per Lægreid is Professor at the Department for Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen, Norway. 

Lise H. Rykkja is Associate Professor at the Department for Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen, Norway, and Research Professor at Uni Research Rokkan Centre, Norway.  

“Among the many important contributions of this volume, two are absolutely essential for advancing our understanding of effective crisis management:  the first is to illuminate how governance capacity and legitimacy productively interact; the second is to use cross-national comparative analysis to demonstrate the crucial influence of organizational arrangements and institutional context.” (Christopher Ansell, Professor, University of California, Berkeley, USA)

“This important book on societal security and crisis management adds value to the growing literature in this field. The contributors not only study elements of governance capacity but also the less often examined dimension of governance legitimacy. The comparative approach covers five European countries and includes fourteen in-depth case studies authored by prominent scholars in the field. Academics and advanced students as well as practitioners of public sector crisis management would benefit from reading this volume.” (Bengt Sundelius, Professor, Swedish Defence University, Sweden)

“Whether triggered by nature, accidents or conflict and intent, crises challenge the capacity of governments to deliver effective and coordinated responses to what are often tense, fluid and uncertain circumstances that defy geographic and jurisdictional boundaries. More often than not, their very occurrence also challenges the legitimacy of governments, who are after all supposed to prevent unsettling, disruptive and dangerous events from happening. This timely book draws on cross-national data and topical case studies of crisis management response systems to show that governments at all levels have much learning and adaptation ahead of them if they want to become more astute and authoritative crisis managers than they have recently proved to be. A major accomplishment and a must-read for crisis management practitioners, scholars and students alike.” (Paul 't Hart, Professor, Utrecht University and Netherlands School of Public Administration, Netherlands)