The Politics of Crisis Management: Public Leadership Under Pressure

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. This uniquely comprehensive analysis examines how leaders deal with the strategic challenges and political risks they face. It is based on over a decade of collaborative, cross-national research.