This document describes a research project studying governance capacity and legitimacy for societal security and crisis management. The project is funded by the Norwegian Research Council and led by researchers at the University of Bergen. It will conduct comparative case studies of crisis response in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany and the UK. The research will examine governance arrangements, performance, and public perceptions to understand how to build effective capacity for handling transboundary crises. It consists of two modules investigating governance capacity and legitimacy.

1. Organizing for Societal Security and
Crisis Management: Building Goverance
Capacity and Legitimacy (GOVCAP)
New trends in societal security research in
the Nordic countries
Stockholm, November 26-27 2014
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2. The research project
• Funded by the Norwegian Research Council
• Four year project. 2014-2018. Started
September 1 2014
• Overall budget: NOK 10 millions (1,3 mill EUR)
• Project administrator: Uni Rokkan Centre, in
collaboration with Department of
administration and organization theory,
University of Bergen
• Project leader Per Lægreid, project manager Lise
H. Rykkja
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3. Project participants
• Jacob Aars, Dag Arne Christensen, Tom
Christensen
• International partners: Werner Jann,
Potsdam, Martin Lodge, LSE, Arjen Boin,
Leiden; Martin Marcussen, Copenhagen,
Fredrik Bynander, Stockholm
• Affiliated: two PhD students, master
students,
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4. Main focus
• Public adminsitration
• The authorities capacity for crisis
management and the citizens’ trust in
government
• A comparative design: Norway, Sweden,
Denmanrk, Netherland, Germany, UK
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5. Research questions
• What makes a well performing governmental
system for societal security and crisis
management?
– How to manage and build capacity and
legitimacy to handle transboundary crises?
– What are the relations between government
capacity, performance and public perceptions?
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6. Theses
• Organizational capacity as well as legitimacy is
needed for a well performing administrative structure
• Organizational arrangements will affect performance
• There is no one best organizational solution for crisis
management
• Context matters for crisis response
– type of crisis
– country features (polity, administrative culture)
– Risk and vulnerability assessments
– Citizens’ perceptions of governance performance
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7. Typology of crisis
Terrorist attack Natural disaster
Mitigation/prevention
Preparation
Response/consequence
management
x x
Recovery/resilience/accountability
Aftermath politics, learning
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8. Organization of the project
• Module 1: Governance capacity
– Organization, coordination, specializations,
multi-level governanc
– Comparative case studies: Crises: Terrorist attack,
natural disasters
• Module 2: Governance legitimacy
– Citizens perceptions and attitudes, trust
– Surveyes to citizens
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9. Module 1
• What arrangements are there for crisis managment
and societal security in different countries and how
has it changed over time? (mapping)
– Is there a convergence or divergence?
– Complexity and hybridity
– Hierarchy and network arrangements
• What can explain how different arrangements for
dealing with crisis develop and change?
– Instrumental and cultural explainations
• How do the arrangements work in practice? What are
the perceived effects? Under what conditions can
crisis be handled in a satisfactory manner?
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10. Module 2
• How to balance individual freedom and societal
security
– To what extent is security and civil liberties traded
off against each other in different contexts?
• Governance representativity. Citizens trust in
government
• How do crises affect the legitimacy, reputation
and trust in the relevant government
institutions?
• What can explain variations?
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11. Focus
• Multi-level, with a core focus on national
institutions
• Meso-level – focus on organizations
• Strategic level more than operational level
• Focus on natural disasters and terrorism but also
other crisis might be included
• Focus on crisis management, but also other
phases
• Focus on performance mor than on societal
outcome
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12. Litteratur
• Fimreite, A.L., P. Lango, P. Lægreid og L.H. Rykkja, red. (2014). Organisering, Samfunnssikkerhet og krisehåndtering. 2. utgåve. Oslo:
Universitetsforlaget.
• Fimreite, A.L., P. Lango, P. Lægreid and L.H. Rykkja (2012). «»22.juli kommisjonen. Organisering, styring og ansvar». Nordiske
Organisasjonsstudier, 14(4): 49-58.
• Lango, P., P. Lægreid and L.H. Rykkja (2013). «Samordning for samfunnsikkerhet: Utviklingen av Justisdepartementets
samordningsansvar». Nordiske Organisasjonsstudier , 15 (3): 7-33.
• Christensen, T., P. Lægreid and L.H. Rykkja (2013) «After a Terrorist Attack: Challenges for Political and Administrative Leadership in
Norway». Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management., 21 (3)167-177.
• Fimreite,A.L., P. Lango, P. Lægreid and L.H. Rykkja (2013). «After Oslo and Utøya: A Shift in the balance between Security and Liberty
in Norway?». Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 36 (10): 839-856.
• Christensen, T., P. Lægreid and L.H., Rykkja (2014) «Ambiguitets of Accountability – analyzing the Failure of a Preventive Security
Project in Norway». Under review.
• Christensen, T., P. Lægreid and L.H. Rykkja (2014). «The challenges of Coordination in National Security Management – the case of
the Terrorist Attack in Norway». International Review of Administrative Sciences (forthcoming).
• Christensen, T. and P. Lægreid “Reputation management in times of crisis – how the police handled the Norwegian terrorist attack in
2011” . In M. Major and A. Wæraas, eds. Organizational Reputation in the Public Sector. London: Routledge (forthcoming).
• Christensen, T., O.A. Danielsen, P. Lægreid and L.H. Rykkja: “The Governance of Wicked Issues: A Comparative analysis of
Coordination for Societal security in Europe,). Presented at the IPSA World Conference in Montreal, July 20-24 2014.
• Christensen, T., P. Lægreid and L. H. Rykkja: ” Organizing for Crises Management: Building Governance Capacity and Legitimacy”
Paper prsented the International Conference on ‘Next Steps for Public Administration in Theory and Practice: Looking Backward and
Moving Forward’, November 16–18, 2014 Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
• Lægreid, P. and L. H. Rykkja: “Governance for Complexity – How to organize for the handling of wicked issues. The case of internal
security and the welfare administration in Norway”. Paper presented at the Policy & Politics Conference, Bristol September 16-17
2014.
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13. Project Home Page
• http://rokkan.uni.no/sites/govcap/
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