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Crisis Management in Transitional Democracies: The Baltic Experience*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2014

Eric Stern ,
Bengt Sundelius ,
Daniel Nohrstedt ,
Dan Hansén ,
Lindy Newlove  and
Paul 't Hart
Eric Stern
Affiliation:
Centre for Crisis Management Research and Training (CRISMART), at the Swedish National Defence College, Uppsala University and Swedish Institute of International Affairs
Bengt Sundelius
Affiliation:
Uppsala University and CRISMART
Daniel Nohrstedt
Affiliation:
Uppsala University and CRISMART
Dan Hansén
Affiliation:
CRISMART
Lindy Newlove
Affiliation:
Linköping University and CRISMART
Paul 't Hart
Affiliation:
University of Leiden and Swedish National Defence College
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Extract

In this article we open the black box of governance in the new democracies by examining episodes where these governments are confronted with urgent threats that require swift and decisive state responses. This provides a unique insight into how political and administrative decision-making actually takes place. It enables us to analyse and evaluate the performance of the new institutions at times when it matters most. Specifically, we discuss how three of these new democracies, the Baltic states, have dealt with risks and crises in vital societal and political domains such as health and safety, public order, economic management and foreign policy. All belong to the core of the classic state functions.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Government and Opposition , Volume 37 , Issue 4 , October 2002 , pp. 524 - 550
Copyright
Copyright © Government and Opposition Ltd 2002

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Footnotes

*

The authors acknowledge the intellectual contributions to this article by their many academic and practitioner partners in the CM–Baltic Research Programme. Financial support was given by the Swedish Agency for Civil Emergency Planning and the Foundation for Baltic Sea Studies at Södertörn University College, Sweden.

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