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THE BUREAU‐POLITICS OF CRISIS MANAGEMENT
Author(s) -
ROSENTHAL URIEL,
HART PAUL't,
KOUZMIN ALEXANDER
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.313
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1467-9299
pISSN - 0033-3298
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9299.1991.tb00791.x
Subject(s) - openness to experience , crisis management , politics , competition (biology) , democracy , power (physics) , crisis response , political science , control (management) , element (criminal law) , political economy , action (physics) , public administration , economics , public relations , management , law , social psychology , psychology , ecology , physics , quantum mechanics , biology
Bureau‐political tensions and competition are an often neglected, yet crucial element in crisis management. Bureau‐politics in crisis management runs counter to pervasive notions that portray centralization and concentration of power as the dominant mode of administrative response to crisis. This article presents empirical evidence suggesting the importance of bureau‐politics in the planning, response and post‐crisis stages of crisis management at both strategic and operational levels of action. Again contrary to conventional wisdom, it is argued that such interagency tensions may fulfill various positive functions: they put crisis agencies to the test; they serve to counteract ‘groupthink tendencies; they foster a certain degree of openness; and they may facilitate democratic control of far‐reaching crisis management policies.