Research Highlights: The Downward Spiral of Legitimacy Erosion

In their 2025 article published in Public Administration Review, Iris Seidemann, Kristina Weißmüller, and Daniel Geiger show how crisis responses can trigger a self-reinforcing spiral of legitimacy loss. Using the Berlin State Office for Health and Social Affairs (LAGeSo) during the 2015 German “refugee crisis” as a case study, they argue that measures intended to signal control and responsiveness ultimately contributed to legitimacy erosion and organizational collapse.

Based on newspaper coverage and official press statements, the authors reconstruct four phases of the crisis. As service failures became increasingly visible, LAGeSo relied on an expanding network of nonprofit organizations, civil society groups, and private actors to compensate for capacity shortages and demonstrate action. While this networked approach initially stabilized service provision and public perceptions, it simultaneously weakened oversight, blurred accountability, and enabled rule-breaking across organizational boundaries.

The analysis shows that these responses, intended to restore legitimacy, unintentionally eroded trust and core public values. Escalating criticism and coordination failures fueled the loss of legitimacy, further constraining the agency’s capacity to govern effectively. Overall, the article highlights the interplay of different dimensions of legitimacy and demonstrates how legitimacy dynamics can decisively shape crisis trajectories and outcomes