Freie Universität Researchers Participate in Europe-Wide Study on Legitimacy of the Measures Taken during the Covid-19 Crisis

Together with ten other research institutes, the Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science at Freie Universität Berlin is investigating crisis governance in Europe in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since October 2022, researchers from the Otto Suhr Institute at Freie Universität Berlin have taken part in the LEGITIMULT (Legitimate Crisis Governance in Multilevel Systems) research project. A total of eleven research institutes have joined forces to investigate the legitimacy and impact of crisis governance measures taken by various international, national, and subnational governments in thirty-one European democracies. The project, which will run for three years, has received funding worth just under 3.7 million euros as part of the European Union's program Horizon Europe . How did the interplay between different governments across multiple levels influence the legitimacy and effectiveness of political decisions during the Covid-19 pandemic? Were the measures to tackle the health, social, and economic impact of the pandemic coordinated effectively? Did federal and decentralized structures facilitate modern crisis management? These are some of the questions that the project addresses from an interdisciplinary and comparative perspective. At the same time, the researchers investigate the influence of supranational organizations such as the European Union and the World Health Organization on the individual crisis management measures taken by member states. The international teams examine questions related to democratic participation, trust in governments and public authorities, the adequacy of responsive actions and policy measures, and the consequences for human and minority rights.