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| 2025-2028

Administrative Limbo: Analyzing the Psychological and Socio-political Effects of State Inaction.

Abstract

In our administrative limbo project, we set out to investigate the psychosocial impact of state inaction. Governments often are often in charge of matters vital to lives and livelihoods in areas such as (social) housing, fraud policies, migration or disaster recovery. However, sometimes decisions addressing citizens’ issues take years to materialize, or remain forthcoming altogether. Our research demonstrates the psychological and social impacts of waiting for state action, when said action is crucial to someone’s life or livelihood. We find that waiting strongly influences mental health and can impact familial relationships, but we also find evidence of resilience and community-formation in the face of prolonged adversity.

In addition to the impact of administrative limbo, our research examines why government action is sometimes extensively delayed. In principle few people contest that undue accusations of fraud should be resolved, or providing disaster relief and recovery. So why can public decision-making on earthquake reinforcement programs take over 7 years? And why can recovery programs in scandals revolving around undue fraud accusations feature expecting waiting times approaching a decade? We zoom in on the factors that cause governance systems to become blocked, dysfunctional or overloaded, providing lessons for future crises revolving around waiting.

Funding

• FWO Research Foundation Flanders - Senior postdoctoral fellowship

Project team

• Fellow: Kleizen Bjorn
• Promoter: Van Dooren Wouter

Scientific publications

Kleizen, B., Van Dooren, W., MacCarthaigh, M., & Vanden Abbeele, C. (2025). Stuck in the waiting room: citizen experiences of administrative limbo in three European crises. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 35(4), 383-396.

• Topic: we introduce a new conceptualization of administrative limbo based on extensive fieldwork in the Irish defective concrete blocks crisis and the Dutch childcare benefits scandal & Groninger gas (earthquake) crisis. Results suggest experiences of administrative limbo feature prolonged lack of control, lost perspectives toward life and extensive strain (stress and exhaustion).

Kleizen, B., Wynen, J., & Junjan, V. (2024). Between aims and execution: Value trade-offs in the practical implementation of the european arrest warrant?. European Journal of Risk Regulation, 15(3), 737-756.

• Topic: we analyze waiting times in surrender (simplified EU extradition) decisions. Our results indicate that arduous legal tests can exacerbate waiting times, producing an underrecognized values trade-off between efficiency and legal protection.

Publications on trust in government and accumulated stress are currently under review.

Other publications

Kleizen, B., Van Dooren, W., MacCarthaigh, M., & Vanden Abbeele, C. (2026). . PUBLIC e-bulletin.

Selected conference presentations

International scientific conference paper presentation: EGPA 2023 5-8 September 2023, Zagreb (Croatia)

• Title of contribution: Trapped in administrative limbo: examining extreme experiences of waiting for state action

International scientific conference paper presentation: ECPR 2024, 12-15 August 2024, Dublin (Ireland)

• Title of contribution: Overburdened administrations? How leaving citizens in administrative limbo can generate vicious performance failure cycles

International scientific conference paper presentation: IRSPM, 7-9 April, Bologna (Italy)

• Title of paper: The journey versus the goal - exploring whether accumulated administrative burdens and outcome favorability contribute toward life stress

Special issue on administrative limbo & racialization

09-06-2026 | Nominated as one of 10 candidates for the FWO Stimulating Pioneers Audience Award 2026, awarded for scientific excellence and science communication towards the public among FWO postdoctoral researchers in Flanders

04-09-2025 | GOVTRUST x MIGLOBA event: Workshop & Symposium on Administrative Limbo and Racialised Citizens