ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the exploration of the relationship between connective capacity and legitimacy. As these two concepts are both central to successful flood management policy making, their relationship is of interest to policy sciences. The chapter argues that as actors consciously or unconsciously employ connective strategies they not only influence the connective capacity of project and policy sectors, but also their legitimacy. It focuses on how connective strategies employed to connect various actors in two flood management projects in Oxford influenced the legitimacy of these projects and legitimacy of flood management policy sector in Oxford at large. The chapter describes flood management in Oxford and discusses the support and legitimacy levels of the 'Oxford-Flood-Risk-Management-Strategy' project and of the flood management policy sector in Oxford at large. In response to the 2003 floods, Environment Agency (EA) began to develop the Oxford Flood Risk Management Strategy (OFRMS), to provide a scheme that could reduce the frequency and impact of flooding in the city.
