Responding to Catastrophe

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (8) ◽  
pp. 1446-1472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reed M. Wood ◽  
Thorin M. Wright

Natural disasters often cause significant human suffering. They may also provide incentives for states to escalate repression against their citizens. We argue that state authorities escalate repression in the wake of natural disasters because the combination of increased grievances and declining state control produced by disasters creates windows of opportunity for dissident mobilization and challenges to state authority. We also investigate the impact of the post-disaster humanitarian aid on this relationship. Specifically, we argue that inflows of aid in the immediate aftermath of disasters are likely to dampen the impact of disasters on repression. However, we expect that this effect is greater when aid flows to more democratic states. We examine these interrelated hypotheses using cross-national data on immediate-onset natural disasters and state violations of physical integrity rights between 1977 and 2009 as well as newly collected foreign aid data disaggregated by sector. The results provide support for both our general argument and the corollary hypotheses.

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 561-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oscar Becerra ◽  
Eduardo Cavallo ◽  
Ilan Noy

AbstractThis paper describes the flows of aid after large catastrophic natural disasters by using the extensive record of bilateral aid flows, by aid sector, available through the OECD's Development Assistance Committee. For each large donor, the extent of cross-sector reallocation is identified that is occurring in the aftermath of large disasters whereby humanitarian aid increases but other types of aid may decrease. The evidence in this paper suggests that the expectation of large surges in post-disaster aid flows is not warranted given the past diversity of experience of global foreign post-disaster aid by donor and by event. No evidence is found, however, that donors reallocate aid between recipient countries (cross-recipient reallocation). These observations suggest that countries which are predicted to face increasing losses from natural disasters in the coming decades (and almost all are) should be devoting significant resources to prevention, insurance and mitigation, rather than expecting significant post-disaster aid inflows.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 245-261
Author(s):  
Jiyoun An ◽  
Bokyeong Park

This study examines the impact of natural disasters on affected countries’ accessibility to international financial resources. We find empirical evidence that natural disasters significantly downgrade the sovereign credit rating of an affected country, an indicator of international financial accessibility. This finding is robust in developing countries, implying that they are faced with additional difficulties in financing post-disaster recovery costs compared with developed countries. Among disasters, droughts and storms display a particularly significant downgrading effect. Further results show that foreign aid from the international community helps to improve the accessibility, implying a possible acceleration of the post-disaster recovery in recipient countries.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jolien van Breen ◽  
Maja Kutlaca ◽  
Yasin Koc ◽  
Bertus F. Jeronimus ◽  
Anne Margit Reitsema ◽  
...  

In this work, we study how social contacts and feelings of solidarity shape experiences of loneliness during the COVID-19 lockdown in early 2020. We draw on cross-national data, collected across four time points between mid-March until early May 2020. We situate our work within the public debate on these issues and discuss to what extent the public understanding of the impact of lockdown is borne out in the data. Results show, first, that although online contacts are beneficial in combating feelings of loneliness, people who feel more lonely are less likely to make use of this strategy. Second, online contacts do not function as a substitute to face-to-face contacts - in fact, more frequent online contacts in earlier weeks predicted an increase in face-to-face contacts in later weeks. Finally, solidarity played only a small role in shaping people’s feelings of loneliness during lockdown. In sum, our findings suggest that we must look beyond the current focus on online contact and solidarity, if we want to help people address their feelings of loneliness. We hope that this work will be instrumental not only in understanding the impact of the lockdown in early 2020, but also in preparing for possible future lockdown periods.


2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 604-614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuri M Zhukov ◽  
Christian Davenport ◽  
Nadiya Kostyuk

Researchers today have access to an unprecedented amount of geo-referenced, disaggregated data on political conflict. Because these new data sources use disparate event typologies and units of analysis, findings are rarely comparable across studies. As a result, we are unable to answer basic questions like ‘what does conflict A tell us about conflict B?’ This article introduces xSub – a ‘database of databases’ for disaggregated research on political conflict ( www.x-sub.org ). xSub reduces barriers to comparative subnational research, by empowering researchers to quickly construct custom, analysis-ready datasets. xSub currently features subnational data on conflict in 156 countries, from 21 sources, including large data collections and data from individual scholars. To facilitate comparisons across countries and sources, xSub organizes these data into consistent event categories, actors, spatial units (country, province, district, grid cell, electoral constituency), and time units (year, month, week, and day). This article introduces xSub and illustrates its potential, by investigating the impact of repression on dissent across thousands of subnational datasets.


Politics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 378-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea LP Pirro ◽  
Paul Taggart ◽  
Stijn van Kessel

This article offers comparative findings of the nature of populist Euroscepticism in political parties in contemporary Europe in the face of the Great Recession, migrant crisis, and Brexit. Drawing on case studies included in the Special Issue on France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom, the article presents summary cross-national data on the positions of parties, the relative importance of the crisis, the framing of Euroscepticism, and the impact of Euroscepticism in different country cases. We use this data to conclude that there are important differences between left- and right-wing variants of populist Euroscepticism, and that although there is diversity across the cases, there is an overall picture of resilience against populist Euroscepticism.


2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (9) ◽  
pp. 1638-1665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devorah Manekin ◽  
Reed M. Wood

Female combatants play a central role in rebel efforts to cultivate and disseminate positive narratives regarding the movement and its political goals. Yet, the effectiveness of such strategies in shaping audience attitudes or generating tangible benefits for the group remains unclear. We propose and test a theory regarding the channels through which female fighters advance rebel goals. We argue that female fighters positively influence audience attitudes toward rebel groups by strengthening observers’ beliefs about their legitimacy and their decision to use armed tactics. We further contend that these effects directly help them secure support from transnational nonstate actors and indirectly promote state support. We assess our arguments by combining a novel survey experiment in two countries with analyses of new cross-national data on female combatants and information about transnational support for rebels. The empirical results support our arguments and demonstrate the impact of gender framing on rebel efforts to secure support.


2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 503-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corinne Peek-Asa ◽  
Marizen Ramirez ◽  
Tracy Young ◽  
YanYan Cao

AbstractIntroductionGlobally, floods are the most common and among the most devastating of natural disasters. Natural disasters such as floods impact local businesses, increasing local unemployment by up to 8.2%. Previous research has linked individual losses from disasters with symptoms such as posttraumatic stress disorder. However, little is known about the impact of work disruption and job loss on post-disaster psychological symptoms. University students, who are often living far away from family support structures and have limited resources, may be particularly vulnerable. This study examines student psychological health following a large flood at a university.HypothesisStudents who experienced flood-related job loss or disruption had a higher proportion of psychological symptoms than those who did not experience job loss or disruption, controlling for individual loss such as injury, home loss or evacuation.MethodsOn June 8, 2008, a major flood affected seven US Midwestern states. A total of two dozen people were killed and 148 injured, although no deaths or serious injuries were reported in the population used for this study. At the study university, operations were closed for one week, and 20 buildings were severely damaged. A cross-sectional survey of all students enrolled during the semester of the flood was conducted. Students were sent an online survey six weeks after the flood. In addition to questions about damage to their homes, the survey asked students if their work was disrupted because of the floods. Symptoms of PTSD were measured through the modified Child PTSD Symptom Scale.ResultsOf the 1,231 responding students with complete surveys, 667 (54.2%) reported that their work was disrupted due to the floods. Controlling for gender, ethnicity, grade, and damage to the student's home, students reporting work disruption were more than four times more likely to report PTSD symptoms (95% CI, 2.5-8.2). Work disruption was independently associated with decreases in general mental and physical health following the floods, as well as with increases in alcohol use.ConclusionDisaster research has focused on damage to individuals and homes, but there has been little focus on work losses. Individuals who lose their jobs may be a vulnerable population post-disaster.Peek-AsaC, RamirezM, YoungT, CaoY. Flood-related work disruption and poor health outcomes among university students. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2012;27(6):1-6.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 171-182
Author(s):  
Alfiandy Warih Handoyo

Sleman district has the high-risk potential of the natural disaster. Disaster risk has positive correlate to potential trauma risk, especially on children. Trauma will be rise direct after a disaster or delay or called posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Parents are the most influential party to the child's development, so parents in disaster-prone areas must have the skills to deal with a traumatized child. The handling of trauma given to victims of natural disasters in Sleman Regency is only based on direct handling post-disaster. There is no advisory service for parents in dealing with traumatized children. Training needs to be given to parents, especially residents in locations that have a high potential for natural disasters. The training aims to provide readiness for parents to accompany traumatized children so that the impact of the trauma does not get worse. Based on the results of the application, it is proven that parents can perform parenting skills to assist traumatized children.


2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 347-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nirooja Thurairajah ◽  
David Baldry

There has been an increase in the occurrence of natural disasters and their impact has aroused the interest of many stakeholders to incorporate different strategies on disaster management. Although disasters may end many opportunities and lives, the lives of survivors do not cease in the disaster affected areas. The impact of natural disasters and the consequent partial reconstruction efforts have specifically presented many challenges to women. In this context, the main research investigates the empowerment of women during post disaster reconstruction particularly in Sri Lanka. Among the factors that influence women's empowerment, existing policies and frameworks is one of the important factors that can play a major role within the post disaster reconstruction in Sri Lanka. Hence, in order to gain an understanding of the existing framework of women's empowerment, this study investigates the national and international policies and frameworks that exist within the post disaster context in Sri Lanka. The study found that even though polices are gender neutral, they are not gender sensitive. In addition, it was found that having a single policy or framework for the whole country is unlikely to be a success, therefore, any frameworks should have room to be adopted to the local situation. Santruka Stichiniu nelaimiu padaugejo, taigi del ju poveikio daug interesu grupiu susidomejo, kaip nelaimems valdyti pasitelkti ivairias strategijas. Nors nelaimes atima daug galimybiu ir gyvybiu, išlikusieji tebegyvena nelaimes nuniokotose teritorijose. Del stichiniu nelaimiu poveikio ir po ju vykstant daliniams atstatymo darbams, ypač daug sunkumu kyla moterims. Atsižvelgiant i tai, pagrindiniame tyrime nagrinejamas didesniu teisiu suteikimas moterims vykstant atstatymo po nelaimiu darbams, ypač Šri Lankoje. Be kitu veiksniu, kurie daro itaka suteikiant didesnes teises moterims, svarbi yra politika ir gaires, o ju reikšme Šri Lankoje atstatant nelaimes nuniokotas vietoves gali būti didžiule. Taigi siekiant suprasti esamas didesniu teisiu suteikimo moterims gaires, šiame tyrime nagrinejama nacionaline ir tarptautine politika bei gaires, Šri Lankoje taikomos darbu po nelaimiu kontekste. Tyrime nustatyta, kad net jei politika pirmenybes neteikia ne vienai lyčiai, i lytims svarbius klausimus ji neatsižvelgia. Be to, nustatyta, kad visoje šalyje taikant viena politika arba gaires vargu ar galima tiketis sekmes. Taigi visose gairese reikia numatyti galimybiu jas priderinti prie vietines situacijos.


Author(s):  
Shane P. Singh

Compulsory voting is widely used in the democratic world, and it is well established that it increases electoral participation. This book assesses the effects of compulsory voting beyond turnout. The author first summarizes the normative arguments for and against compulsory voting, provides information on its contemporary use, reviews recent events pertaining to its (proposed) adoption and abolition, and provides an extensive account of extant research on its consequences. The author then advances a theory that compulsory voting polarizes behavior and attitudes, and broadens gaps in political sophistication levels, among those with negative and positive orientations toward democracy. Recognizing the impact of mandatory voting on the electorate, political parties then alter the ways in which they seek votes, with mainstream parties moderating their platforms and smaller parties taking more extreme positions. The author uses survey data from countries with compulsory voting to show that support for the requirement to vote is driven by individuals’ orientations toward democracy. The theory is then comprehensively tested using: cross-national data, cross-cantonal data from Switzerland, and survey data from Argentina. Empirical results are largely indicative of the theorized process whereby compulsory voting has divergent effects on citizens and political parties. The book concludes with a discussion of future directions for academic research, implications for those who craft electoral policy, and alternative ways of boosting turnout.


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