Digital public administration and fiscal legitimacy in post-conflict settings

Post-conflict governments often struggle to rebuild tax systems and basic services at a time when authority is contested, public trust is weak, and administrative routines are unsettled. Digital public administration is often presented as a means of stabilizing revenue collection and restoring state credibility under such conditions. Existing literature on taxation, statebuilding, and digital government has not fully explained how digital fiscal systems affect legitimacy in post-conflict societies, particularly where consent is fragile and enforcement capacity remains uneven. This gap has gained urgency as reconstruction finance is reshaped by sanctions, shifting aid rules, and performance-based governance expectations, creating pressure for visible results without secure political foundations. This conceptual study develops a framework that organizes how digital fiscal instruments can strengthen or weaken fiscal legitimacy in post-conflict contexts. It specifies mechanisms, failure pathways, and observable indicators that can guide future empirical analysis. These contributions matter for scholarship and policy debates concerned with rebuilding fiscal authority under contemporary reconstruction constraints.