In the past twenty to thirty years, national states have endured a series of transboundary crises that shook the very foundations of their sovereignty. Such crises and shocks expose the shared causes and vulnerabilities as well as the interconnected consequences and policy responses that result from the interdependence of our societies, polities, and the organisation of our public sectors in a globalised world.   

This research project pursues three objectives: (1) examine whether and how different transboundary crises affect the administrative systems of different national states; (2) comparatively analyze the effects of national political institutions and conditions on national states’ capacity to respond to transboundary crises; and (3) examine to what extent the changes within the state administrative systems in the wake of transboundary crises are substantial or symbolic.

Combining three theoretical perspectives - organisational agendas, crisis-reform theory, and the politics of structural choice - we will develop longitudinal, cross-national, and cross-sectoral models and test the effects of transboundary crises and political constellations on administrative adaptation within the national state administrations of four European countries between 1980 and 2022.

• crisis management
• globalisation
• public sector performance
• transboundary crisis