Workshop: Crisis, Depoliticization and the Rule of Law

Crises and an increase in demand for de-politicized governance are two poles of contemporary policy-making and current political debate. On the one hand, crises necessitate swift reactions from governments and state bureaucracies. On the other hand, citizens in advanced, rich democracies increasingly rely on the provision of a broad range of public goods that are awarded on the basis of a "rules-rather-than-discretion" logic.

This workshop asks how governments, state bureaucracies and societies are transforming under these conditions. Specifically, we are interested in an apparent shift that changes the logic of legitimate government, namely the transformation from input to output legitimatization.

This shift pressures governments and state bureaucracies to react quickly in the face of crisis, answering to urgent demands from its citizenry. This may undermine legal standards and established policy making procedures. On the other hand, the de-politicized provision of public goods has become an expected standard from which governments cannot easily deviate.

Building upon these dual developments, the workshop "Crisis, Depoliticization, and the Rule of Law" seeks to address, inter alia, the following questions:

• How do states with depoliticized societies respond to crises?
• Does the impact of these crises result in increased civic participation, or does it foster disengagement?
• In depoliticized societies, do crises pose a threat to the functioning of the rule of law and the acceptance of established procedures?
• Can depoliticization function as a catalyst of crises by compelling politicians to react unlawfully?
• How are fake news, disinformation and radicalization related to crises response in de-politicized societies?

We invite scholars across all disciplines to contribute their insights on this complex and multifaceted subject. We welcome submissions from political science, as well as from legal, economic, administrative, sociological, and historical perspectives. The workshop is open to both qualitative and quantitative empirical methodological approaches.

The workshop will take place on June 6th and 7th at Kiel University. Limited funding is available to facilitate the participation of early-career researchers (doctorate or PhD).

Proposals for contributions are requested by April 15, 2024, and can be submitted to jdombrowski@politik.uni-kiel.de. Please direct all questions to Jacqueline Dombrowski at the same email address. The workshop is hosted by the Chair of Comparative Politics at the University of Kiel, Prof. Dr. Christian Martin.