Crisis Windows Authorize Rule Rewrites

During acute problems, managers and political actors can legitimately claim they need ‘outside‑normal’ measures and thereby obtain resources, personnel changes, or waived rules that would be impossible in routine times. These temporary permissions often outlive the emergency and can institutionalize new practices, for better or worse. — Recognizing crisis windows as a recurring mechanism clarifies how emergency episodes become moments of rapid institutional change or capture, which bears directly on oversight, democratic accountability, and regulatory design.