The Politics of Crisis Management

Crisis management has become a defining feature of contemporary governance. In times of crisis, communities and members of organizations expect their leaders to minimize the impact of the crisis at hand, while critics and bureaucratic competitors try to seize the moment to blame incumbent rulers and their policies. In this extreme environment, policy makers must somehow establish a sense of normality, and foster collective learning from the crisis experience. In this uniquely comprehensive analysis, the authors examine how leaders deal with the strategic challenges they face, the political risks and opportunities they encounter, the errors they make, the pitfalls they need to avoid, and the paths away from crisis they may pursue. This book is grounded in over a decade of collaborative, cross-national case study research, and offers an invaluable multidisciplinary perspective. This is an original and important contribution from experts in public policy and international security.

(Cambridge)

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'This compact monograph should be required reading for anyone who wishes to engage with the institutional implications of extreme natural or political events in the coming decade.' International Public Management Journal

'Their excellent book provides a concise and insightful account of state-of-the-art policy practise and research on crisis management in the post 9/11 period. ... the authors provide a coherent and stimulating account.' Public Administration

(Cambridge)

Dr. Arjen Boin is an Assistant Professor at Leiden University, Department of Public Administration. He is the author of Crafting Public Institutions (2001) and co-editor, with Rosenthal and Comfort, of Managing Crises: Threats, Dilemmas, Opportunities (2001). Professor Paul 't Hart is Professor of Public Administration at the Utrecht School of Governance, Utrecht University. His publications include Groupthink in Government (1997), Understanding Policy Fiascoes (1996), Beyond Groupthink (1997) and Success and Failure in Public Governance (2001). Dr Eric Stern is the Director of CRISMART, acting Professor of Government at the Swedish National Defence College as well as Associate Professor of Government at Uppsala University. He is the author of Crisis Decisionmaking: A Cognitive Institutional Approach (1999). Professor Bengt Sundelius is the Founding Director of CRISMART and Professor of Government at Uppsala University. He is Chief Scientist of the Swedish Emergency Management Agency and responsible for promoting research in the area of homeland security.

(Cambridge)

1. Crisis management in political systems; 2. Sense making: grasping crises as they unfold; 3. Decision making: critical choices and their implementation; 4. Meaning making: crisis management as political communication; 5. End games: crisis termination and accountability; 6. Learning from crisis and the politics of reform; 7. Dealing with crisis; A memo to public leaders.

(Cambridge)