Guest Speaker Prof. Beatrice de Graaf on the Crisis Gap
The Audit Festival organised by the Netherlands Court of Audit on 11 September 2025 concluded with a presentation by Utrecht professor Beatrice de Graaf. In a lively presentation to a full room, she outlined the relationship between citizens and the state in times of crisis, from the Middle Ages to post-modern times.
De Graaf speaks of a crisis gap because of the feeling among the population that the many crises affecting the Netherlands and large parts of the world cannot be managed by the government.
In the times when Charlemagne faced the plague and other severe crises, his approach was primarily aimed at encouraging affluent citizens and the church to assist the population. By granting city rights to make local governance more active, storing food supplies, and stimulating guilds to take an active role. Residents needed to feel that their spiritual distress was being acknowledged. The affluent bourgeoisie were encouraged to give alms, as those who were too stingy would face hell later.
Through the Leiden crisis of the exploded gunpowder ship in 1807 and the exemplary role taken by King Louis-Napoleon at the time, and the later cholera crisis where the government still did not allocate general resources, De Graaf ended up at the Flood Disaster of 1953. Even then, the government’s contribution was limited, and Queen Juliana at the time primarily maintained that the hand of God had caused the disaster.
In modern times, there is more a crisis of authority with citizens no longer believing in the goals set by politics and government. Protesters demand action against acid rain or oppose the placement of cruise missiles. Today, there is a multitude of crises in various areas. Even now, citizens want to see that the government cares for those who are caught in the bind of a housing or climate crisis or impending aggression from abroad. According to Prof. De Graaf, it is not enough to merely encourage citizens to stock up on emergency supplies. People need to feel, especially in times of crisis and disaster, that they are treated justly by the government. This can only happen, Beatrice de Graaf states, if it is done collectively. Just as in the Middle Ages, the dance of death involved the rulers, the affluent bourgeoisie, and the rest of the population.