TY - JOUR

T1 - The Downward Spiral of Legitimacy Erosion

T2 - Lessons on Network Governance Failure During the German “Refugee Crisis”

AU - Seidemann, Iris

AU - Weißmüller, Kristina S.

AU - Geiger, Daniel

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s). Public Administration Review published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Public Administration.

PY - 2025/7/9

Y1 - 2025/7/9

N2 - Organizational legitimacy is essential for effective crisis governance. This study analyzes the rapid erosion of legitimacy faced by the German State Office for Health and Social Affairs (LAGeSo) during the 2015 refugee crisis, triggering cascading failures in public service delivery. Analyzing news articles and press statements, the study traces stakeholders' interactions with the LAGeSo, reconstructing key events and reactions to identify critical public governance failures. The findings show that a lack of network governance and anticipatory leadership contributed to a self-reinforcing process of legitimacy erosion, which culminated in organizational collapse. The case demonstrates that public sector crisis management requires more than technical responses; it demands strategic awareness of legitimacy dynamics and strong leadership in network governance. Adopting a legitimacy-as-process perspective, the study provides novel conceptual and practical insights for improving public crisis governance.

AB - Organizational legitimacy is essential for effective crisis governance. This study analyzes the rapid erosion of legitimacy faced by the German State Office for Health and Social Affairs (LAGeSo) during the 2015 refugee crisis, triggering cascading failures in public service delivery. Analyzing news articles and press statements, the study traces stakeholders' interactions with the LAGeSo, reconstructing key events and reactions to identify critical public governance failures. The findings show that a lack of network governance and anticipatory leadership contributed to a self-reinforcing process of legitimacy erosion, which culminated in organizational collapse. The case demonstrates that public sector crisis management requires more than technical responses; it demands strategic awareness of legitimacy dynamics and strong leadership in network governance. Adopting a legitimacy-as-process perspective, the study provides novel conceptual and practical insights for improving public crisis governance.

KW - crisis management

KW - legitimacy erosion

KW - network governance

KW - Management studies

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105010069014&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/puar.70008

DO - 10.1111/puar.70008

M3 - Journal articles

JO - Public Administration Review

JF - Public Administration Review

SN - 0033-3352

ER -