Legitimate crisis governance? A conceptual framework for analysing and assessing the legitimacy of crisis governance

This contribution develops a conceptual framework for analysing and assessing the legitimacy of crisis governance. Crises, such as natural disasters, terrorist events, or disease outbreaks, put the problem-solving capacity of governmental authorities to a critical test. An important question is how governments can respond to crisis situations, not only in an effective way, but also in a legitimate way. Legitimacy is critical to governments as it provides the basis for the acceptance of their decisions. This is particularly relevant when governments have to take far-reaching decisions in response to a crisis. Nevertheless, crisis situations have their own dynamics that might affect how citizens perceive the legitimacy of governmental interventions. The connections between governance and legitimacy have been studied before, but relatively little attention has been paid to the links between legitimacy and crisis governance in particular. This conceptual framework combines insights from the crisis management literature and the literature on political and administrative legitimacy. Based on these literatures, this contribution conceptualizes the concept of legitimate crisis governance and develops a set of expectations that can guide empirical research into the legitimacy of crisis governance.