Our main research interest is to comparatively investigate 1) how states have responded to the recent crisis, and 2) to find out what impact the recent fiscal crisis has on public administration and governance? The current study treats fiscal crisis as an independent variable providing explanation to the possible changes in systems of governance. The comparative study is based on about ten single country case studies following the same case study protocol and prepared in the framework of the FP7 project COCOPS. The empirical research will cover time period from 2008 to 2012.
The existing academic studies show that the government responses to the crisis have been diverse; there have been “as many responses as countries” (Peters 2012) and in many cases the responses have been contradictory (Kickert 2012; Lodge and Hood 2012; Peters et al. 2011; Pollitt 2010). We apply exploratory and explanatory research by further elaborating the main research questions: What are the factors that could explain the differences in how the states have responded to the crisis? Which politico-administrative factors and financial-economic circumstances are particularly important in explaining specific responses by the governments? What lessons can we learn for governance and public management from the states’ responses to the fiscal crisis?
We intend to use an “input-throughput-output-outcome” model for the study. The “input” component will serve as background information providing relevant facts about the socio-economic situation in different countries. The “throughput” and “output” components make up central parts of the study, shedding light on the states´ responses to the crisis in terms of cutback measures undertaken, the decision-making context and related outputs in the crisis management. The “outcomes” section presents the main findings and provides discussion and analysis about the possible long-term outcomes of the crisis and subsequent governmental action.
