Postdoctoral researcher

Geschwister Scholl Institute of Polictical Science, LMU Munich

I’m a researcher and lecturer in public administration and public policy, with a particular focus on organizational behavior, citizen-state interactions, and crisis management. In my work, I use quantitative and experimental research methods to explore and analyze these domains comprehensively.

Beyond my active research endeavours, I engage in outreach and transfer activities, such as public speaking and workshops with stakeholders and practitioners, to increase the non-academic impact of my work.

Contact me via e-mail at first.lastname@gsi.uni-muenchen.de or find me on ORCiD, Bluesky and Google Scholar.

About

I am a postdoctoral researcher (Akademische Rätin) at the Department of Political Science at LMU Munich, where I work at the Chair for Empirical Theory of Politics.

I investigate both organizational-level and individual-level behaviors of policy implementers and decision-makers. Additionally, I study public perceptions of governmental action, with a particular interest in understanding the diverse perceptions of citizen-state interactions and the collaboration between public organizations and civil society, and their effects on trust and legitimacy within the population.

My research is published in academic journals including Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Journal of European Public Policy, Public Management Review, Public Administration and others. I regularly review for journals in public administration and political science and participate at academic workshops and conferences. Beyond academia, I participate in knowledge transfer activities, engaging as a moderator and speaker in events with stakeholders and civil society.

Before my current position, I was a postdoctoral researcher at Zeppelin University, a visiting scholar at KU Leuven and Leiden University, and a doctoral researcher at the Chair of Public Administration and Organization Theory at the University of Konstanz, where I also completed my doctoral thesis in the PhD programm Politics and Public Administration. I hold a Master’s Degree in Political Science from LMU Munich and in Current Democracies: Nationalism, Federalism and Multiculturalism from UPF Barcelona.

Research

I collaborate with scholars from different fields on various research projects that investigate the challenges of administrative stress. In the context of these projects, I aim to uncover how the pressures on public administrators shape societal perceptions and influence the legitimacy of governance.

SUPA - Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies

2025-2028, LMU Munich, Sub-project Co-PI

The SUPA Consortium will investigate the effects of overburdened administrations in advanced democracies. The three-year project starts in 2025 and is part of EU Horizon 2024. Together with Christoph Knill, I will lead the sub-project at LMU Munich with a focus on central challenges that arise from different ways of allocating administrative burdens.

InnoLoK - Innovations in Local Crisis Management

2023-2026, Zeppelin University, Co-principal investigator

As a Co-Principal Investigator of the InnoLok project (with Steffen Eckhard & Christian Adam), I am studying the responses of German local level administrations to the Covid-19 pandemic, examining the emergence of innovative approaches and their impact. I am interested in hybridity and flexibility within public administrations, as well as their ability to integrate civil society into resilient crisis response systems. The three-year project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Dissertation Project - Administrative Crisis Management & Public Perceptions

2018-2023, University of Konstanz

In my dissertation I addressed the complex dynamics of administrative crisis management by exploring various dimensions of organizational behavior and public perceptions. Through a series of empirical investigations, the project scrutinized how local administrations navigate crises. By examining the organizational flexibility, inclusiveness, and crisis communication, the dissertation offers insights into the challenges and opportunities faced by public sector organizations during crisis events. Furthermore, it explores the perceptions of citizens and volunteers, shedding light on their trust in administration and its role in shaping crisis management legitimacy.

ACCUPOL - Causes and Consequences of Policy Accumulation

2018-2023, LMU Munich, Researcher

In addition to my work on crisis management, I have contributed to the ACCUPOL research project at LMU Munich (led by Christoph Knill), which focuses on the responsiveness trap in modern democracies. This project acknowledges the inherent responsiveness of democratic governments to societal demands, resulting in the continuous accumulation of policy outputs over time. By studying policy accumulation across various countries and policy sectors, the project aims to shed light on this unexplored aspect of modern democracies and its implications for governance.

HybOrg - Emergence and social effects of hybrid organizations in local crisis management

2018-2022, University of Konstanz, Researcher

The HybOrg project (2018-2020, BMBF) investigated the involvement of local administrations in crisis management during the 2015/16 refugee crisis in Germany, with a particular focus on their effectiveness and adaptability during times of crisis, as well as the impact on social cohesion.

Publications

I regularly publish my research in international peer-reviewed journals and release reports — here’s an overview of my publications.

Peer-reviewed journal articles
  • Lenz, A., Fernández-i-Marín, X., Hinterleitner, M., Knill, C., Steinebach, Y. (2025). Democratic governance and policy complexity: revisiting the intelligence of democracy. Journal of European Public Policy. doi: 10.1080/13501763.2025.2553756.
  • Lenz, A., Steinebach, Y., Casula, M. (2025). Mapping bureaucratic overload: Dynamics and drivers in media coverage across three European countries. Regulation & Governance, 19(3): 618-636. doi: 10.1093/jopart/muac038.
  • Lenz, A., Eckhard, S. (2025). Unbureaucratic Behavior in Times of Crisis: Rule-Breaking by Public Administrators. Review of Public Personnel Administration, (): . doi: 10.1177/0734371X241311279.
  • Lenz, A. (2024). Managing crises as if no one is watching? Governance dilemmas from a public perspective. Public Administration: 1-21. doi: 10.1111/padm.12980.
  • Graf, F., Lenz, A., Eckhard, S. (2023). Ready, Set, Crisis – Transitioning to Crisis Mode in Local Public Administration. Public Management Review: 1-25. doi: 10.1080/14719037.2023.2242851.
  • Lenz, A., Eckhard, S. (2023). Conceptualizing and Explaining Flexibility in Administrative Crisis Management: A Cross-district Analysis in Germany. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 33(3): 485-497. doi: 10.1093/jopart/muac038.
  • Lenz, A. (2022). Trust in times of crisis: opportunities and pitfalls of cooperation between volunteers and local governments. der moderne staat–Zeitschrift für Public Policy, Recht und Management, 15(1): 130-148. doi: 10.3224/dms.v15i1.09.
  • Eckhard, S., Lenz, A., Seibel, W., Roth, F., Fatke, M. (2021). Latent hybridity in administrative crisis management: The German refugee crisis of 2015/16. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 31(2): 416-433. doi: 10.1093/jopart/muaa039.
Book chapters
  • Steinbacher, C., Lenz, A. (2026). Sitting on a Knife Edge: Is German Public Administration collapsing from below?. In C. Knill, Y. Steinebach, D. Zink (Eds.), Triage Bureaucracy: The Organizational Challenge of Implementing Growing Policy Stocks.
  • Lenz, A. (2024). Kommunale Verwaltungen und freiwilliges Engagement: Chancen und Hindernisse der Kooperation in Zeiten komplexer Herausforderungen. In F. Gesemann, D. Filsinger, S. Münch (Eds.), Handbuch Lokale Integrationspolitik. doi: 10.1007/978-3-658-43195-2_17-1.
Other publications
  • Lenz, A. (2023). Administrative crisis management & public perceptions. Doctoral Thesis. University of Konstanz, Konstanz. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-2-19nrrsazxxllo6.
  • Mende, L., Scharte, B., Wiese, L, Lenz, A., Roth, F., Seibel, W., Eckhard, S. (2021). Freiwillige in der Krise erfolgreich (er) einbinden: Handlungsempfehlungen für die lokale Verwaltung. Center for Security Studies (CSS), Zurich. doi: 10.3929/ethz-b-000483520.
  • Mende, L., Scharte, B., Wiese, L, Lenz, A., Roth, F., Seibel, W., Eckhard, S. (2021). Flexibel durch die Krise: Handlungsempfehlungen für die lokale Verwaltung. Center for Security Studies (CSS), Zurich. doi: 10.3929/ethz-b-000483800.
  • Eckhard, S., Graf, F., Lenz, A. (2021). Bundesweite Befragung zum Umgang mit der Covid-19-Pandemie in Landkreisen und kreisfreien Städten. Technical Report. University of Konstanz, KOPS, Konstanz. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-2-1job7b1mdncii5.
  • Lenz, A., Eckhard, S., Obermaier, K., Hoffmann, P. (2021). Wie nimmt die Bevölkerung das Krisenmanagement während der Covid-19 Pandemie wahr? Repräsentative Bevölkerungsbefragung zur öffentlichen Wahrnehmung in der Covid-19 Pandemie. University of Konstanz, KOPS, Konstanz. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-2-cwtrntsqw5wm2.
  • Eckhard, S., Lenz, A., Obermaier, K., Graf, F. (2021). Die öffentliche Wahrnehmung des Krisenmanagements in der Covid-19 Pandemie – Vergleichende Landkreisbefragung in 27 Kreisen.Technical Report. University of Konstanz, KOPS, Konstanz. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-2-1o113rddcjfjo5.
  • Lenz, A., Eckhard, S. (2020). Nationwide administrative district survey on the response to the increase in the number of asylum seekers in 2015/16: Research report HybOrg Project. Technical Report. University of Konstanz, KOPS, Konstanz. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-2-3432z9i4ve5n6.
  • Eckhard, S., Lenz, A. (2020). Die öffentliche Wahrnehmung des Krisenmanagements in der Covid-19 Pandemie. University of Konstanz, KOPS, Konstanz. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-2-uxhfn4noqkgi8.
  • Roth, F., Käser, M., Lenz, A., Eckhard, S., Wiese, L., Seibel, W. (2019). Wege zur Einbindung von Freiwilligen - Lehren aus der sogenannten Flüchtlingskrise. Behördenspiegel, 12(2019).

Teaching

Information for students: Please feel free to contact me regarding office hours, feedback, or any other inquiries. I am here to assist you and provide support in your academic journey.

Thesis supervision

If you plan to write a Bachelor thesis under my supervision, please consider the following information:

  • Thesis can be written either in English or German
  • The prerequisite for supervision is the submission of a brief exposé (approximately 2 pages, including a short bibliography), which should encompass
    • Working title
    • Subject of the study + empirical/theoretical puzzle
    • General and specific research question
    • Specification of the conceptual framework and initial ideas for the theoretical framework
    • Initial idea for the research design
Letters of recommendation

Prerequisites for recommendation letters (z.B. Studienplätze, Praktikumsplätze):

  • Students have either visited (min.) one of my seminars or have written their BA with me (grades 2.3 or better)
  • Students ask for an office hour appoinment and hand in the requested documents the day before (see list below)
  • Request at least 4 weeks before the submission deadline of the letter of recommendation

Required Documents

  • CV
  • Detailed transcript of records with grades and grade point average (for both BA and MA if applicable)
  • Explanation of the application, scholarship, or study abroad program. (Ideal: bullets of specific project descriptions, details about the study program, scholarship, etc., if applicable)
  • Any forms and questionnaires that need to be completed for the recommendation & instructions for submission of the letter
  • Submission Deadline