Politico-administrative Configurations in Local Crisis Management

Abstract This article examines how local governments govern crises through the configuration of politico-administrative relations. It analyzes how four Flemish cities organized and adapted their crisis arrangements during the Covid-19 pandemic drawing on three analytical lenses: the political nature of crisis management, complementarity between political and administrative actors, and the role of anticipatory capacity shaped by local context. The study focuses on the following research question: How and why do crises reconfigure politico-administrative relations in local governments, and which factors explain variation in these configurations? The findings show that even within a uniform institutional framework, local actors exercised significant discretion in balancing efficiency with inclusion. Local political dynamics, leadership style, and anticipatory capacity emerged as decisive factors explaining variation across cities. Crises reconfigure politico-administrative complementarity, turning crisis cells into temporary hybrid arenas where authority, coordination, and trust are renegotiated. In doing so, the study demonstrates that crisis management is made fit for purpose rather than following a one-size-fits-all model and that different logics of “politics of governing crises” may overlap or evolve sequentially. These insights advance understanding of how local governments translate institutional constraints and contextual pressures into distinct modes of governing under crisis conditions.