scholarly journals Blurred Responsibilities of Disaster Governance: The American Red Cross in the US and Haiti

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 331-342
Author(s):  
Eija Meriläinen ◽  
Jukka Mäkinen ◽  
Nikodemus Solitander
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Democratic Citizenship ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
The Political ◽  
American Red Cross ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Private Actors ◽  
Governance Arrangements

The influence of private actors, such as non-profit organizations (NPOs) and firms, has been increasing in disaster governance. Previous literature has interrogated the responsibilities of states towards citizens in disasters, but the roles of private actors have been insufficiently challenged. The article politicizes the entangled relations between NPOs, states, and disaster-affected people. It proposes the Rawlsian division of moral labor as a useful, normative framework for interrogating the justice of disaster governance arrangements in which ‘liberal’ states are involved. Liberal states have two types of responsibilities in disasters: humanitarian and political. The humanitarian responsibilities imply provision of basic resources needed for the capacity to make autonomous choices (domestically and abroad), while the political responsibilities imply provision of the institutions needed for the liberal democratic citizenship (domestically). Through this analytical lens and building on the wealth of existing scholarship, we illustrate the disaster governance role of the American Red Cross in the United States (a 2005 hurricane) and in Haiti (the 2010 earthquake). Where, in Rawlsian terms, United States is interpreted as a ‘liberal’ society, Haiti is framed as a ‘burdened’ society. The article proposes five points to consider in analyzing disaster governance arrangements under neoliberal regimes, structured around the division of humanitarian and political responsibilities. The article illustrates how NPOS are instrumental in blurring the boundaries between humanitarian and political responsibilities. This might result ultimately in actual vulnerabilities remaining unaddressed. While the Rawlsian approach challenges the privatization and lack of coordination in disaster governance, it is limited in analyzing the political construction of ‘burdened’ societies.

War without Citizens

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-38
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Rosow
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Consumer Culture ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Community ◽  
Democratic Citizenship ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Public ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Advanced Technologies

Contestation over war memorialization can help democratic theory respond to the current attenuation of citizenship in war in liberal democratic states, especially the United States. As war involves more advanced technologies and fewer soldiers, the relation of citizenship to war changes. In this context war memorialization plays a particular role in refiguring the relation. Current practices of remembering and memorializing war in contemporary neoliberal states respond to a dilemma: the state needs to justify and garner support for continual wars while distancing citizenship from participation. The result is a consumer culture of memorialization that seeks to effect a unity of the political community while it fights wars with few citizens and devalues the public. Neoliberal wars fought with few soldiers and an economic logic reveals the vulnerability to otherness that leads to more active and critical democratic citizenship.

Community Collaboration in Disaster: The Role of Voluntary Agencies

2000 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 81-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Dusty Bowenkamp
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Voluntary Organizations ◽  
American Red Cross ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
Critical Problems ◽  
Serious Injuries

AbstractAlthough the United States has been impacted by numerous devastating disasters over the last 10 years, there have been only limited efforts between the governmental and non-profit/voluntary organizations to meet the multiple disaster health and mental health needs of the community. Too often, responding organizations compete to provide services, duplicate efforts, and frequently under-estimate the need for services.Recent efforts have been undertaken by The American Red Cross and other groups to resolve this issue. Governmental and community-based organizations have been invited to participate in planning sessions to pre-identify roles and responsibilities, as well as to exchange key information about the services each group can and does provide.These efforts have lead to an increased awareness of the potential problems and the development of cohesive plans to provide medical and emotional support services to impacted communities. This has led to improved care for those with serious injuries or psychological crisis, while those with less critical problems have been managed appropriately without needing to be immediately referred to overcrowded emergency departments or physician's offices.

After the tragic end of Mr. John F. Kennedy

1963 ◽  
Vol 3 (33) ◽  
pp. 643-644
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
National Society ◽  
American Red Cross ◽  
International Review ◽  
The People ◽  
Tragic Event ◽  
Short Time

The International Committee took a sincere part in the tragic event which was mourned on November 22, 1963 by the people of the United States and by the American Red Cross. Mr. John F. Kennedy was not only President of the United States, he was also Honorary President of the National Society to which a short time ago, on the occasion of the Centenary of the Red Cross, he addressed a message which was published in the International Review. One will also recall the stirring message full of confidence which he sent this September to the Centenary Congress of the International Red Cross in Geneva.

scholarly journals The coercive power of shared values

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Ayson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Shared Values ◽  
The Political ◽  
Coercive Power ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Effective Form ◽  
Political Principles ◽  
Trump Administration

While values often evoke noble aims, groups of countries sometimes use statements about the values they share to coerce others. Allies coordinate around their shared values talk to apply reputational pressure on adversaries. Examples include attempts by the United States and its liberal democratic allies in Asia to coerce China and by EU and NATO members to coerce Russia. Shared values talk can also be used to discipline wayward allies who are supposed to be committed to the political principles in question. EU leaders and some of Washington’s NATO allies have sought to place such pressure on the Trump Administration. Participating in shared values talk may also be self-coercive. But if values talk is to be an effective form of coercion, it must impose costs that the target deems important.

ICRC President visits the United States of America

1989 ◽  
Vol 29 (270) ◽  
pp. 228-228
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Financial Support ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Government ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
American Red Cross ◽  
George Bush ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
The Press ◽  
States Government

Mr. Cornelio Sommaruga, President of the ICRC, was in Washington from 14 to 17 May 1989, accompanied by Mr. André Pasquier, Director of Operations, and Mr. Jürg Bischoff from the Press Division.Mr. Sommaruga and Mr. Pasquier were received by the President of the United States, Mr. George Bush, in the presence of Mr. Richard F. Schubert, President of the American Red Cross. The ICRC representatives conveyed their warm thanks for the financial support provided by the American authorities to the ICRC; they also expressed the hope that the contribution would be increased, given the expansion in ICRC operational acitivities in many parts of the world. There was also an exchange of views as to ratification by the United States Government of the Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions, as well as talks on humanitarian mobilization and current ICRC activities. Mr. Bush assured Mr. Sommaruga that he could count on continued diplomatic and financial support from the United States.

The Gray Ladies of the American Red Cross

1964 ◽  
Vol 4 (36) ◽  
pp. 121-133
Author(s):  
Fred G. Sigerist
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
American Red Cross

Much has been heard of the valuable help given, through the American Red Cross, by those voluntary aids known as “Gray Ladies”, in hospitals, sanatoria, rest homes, clinics and convalescent centres in the United States. Qualified volunteers of all ages undertake these missions (in some cases men also help these services), especially for people who are incapacitated through illness for long periods.

scholarly journals The coercive power of shared values

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Ayson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Shared Values ◽  
The Political ◽  
Coercive Power ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Effective Form ◽  
Political Principles ◽  
Trump Administration

While values often evoke noble aims, groups of countries sometimes use statements about the values they share to coerce others. Allies coordinate around their shared values talk to apply reputational pressure on adversaries. Examples include attempts by the United States and its liberal democratic allies in Asia to coerce China and by EU and NATO members to coerce Russia. Shared values talk can also be used to discipline wayward allies who are supposed to be committed to the political principles in question. EU leaders and some of Washington’s NATO allies have sought to place such pressure on the Trump Administration. Participating in shared values talk may also be self-coercive. But if values talk is to be an effective form of coercion, it must impose costs that the target deems important.

The Impact of Ethnicity and Socialization on Definitions of Democracy: The Case of Mexican Americans and Mexicans

2003 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodolfo O. de la Garza ◽  
Muserref Yetim
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Mexican Americans ◽  
Mexican American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Democratic Citizenship ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
The Political ◽  
Direct Experience ◽  
The Impact

This paper argues that Mexican American views of democracy differ significantly from those of Mexicans because of their exposure to the political institutions and culture of the United States. Our results vindicate Diamond's claim that there is no better way of developing the values, skills, and commitments of democratic citizenship than through direct experience with democracy (Diamond 1999). Equally significant is that the study demonstrates that ethnic ties do not determine political attitudes. That is, despite a shared historical background and contemporary cultural commonalities, Mexican views of democracy differ from those of Mexican Americans. Este artíículo arguye que las visiones de la democracia de los mexicano-americanos difieren significativamente de las de los mexicanos debido a su exposicióón a las instituciones de políítica y cultura de los Estados Unidos. Nuestros resultados justifican la idea de Diamond de que no hay mejor manera de desarrollar los valores, habilidades y el compromiso con una ciudadaníía democráática qua a travéés de la experiencia directa con la democracia (Diamond 1999). De igual importancia, el estudio demuestra que los lazos éétnicos no determinan las actitudes polííticas. Esto es, a pesar de compartir un trasfondo históórico y de las concordancias culturales contemporááneas, las visiones de la democracia de los mexicanos difieren de las de los mexicano-americanos.

The Red Cross in the USA: Water Safety and First Aid

1966 ◽  
Vol 6 (59) ◽  
pp. 90-96
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Aid ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
American Red Cross ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
The Past ◽  
First Aid Training ◽  
The Usa

The year 1964 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the American National Red Cross water safety program. In that year, 232 persons were awarded the coveted Certificate of Merit for saving lives through skills learned in Red Cross courses. The certificate they won, which is signed by the President of the United States and the Chairman of the American Red Cross, may be granted to people who have had water safety or first aid training. Both programs share in the overall purpose of the American organization's Safety Services: the saving of lives through public education in accident prevention and through courses that teach people how to respond when accidents do happen in the home, at work, on the highway, in the water, and elsewhere. Thousands of heroes and heroines, many unrecognized, have used their training to avert tragedies throughout the United States over the past 50 years.

scholarly journals An Alternative Account of the Populist Backlash in the United States: A Perspective from Turkey

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (03) ◽  
pp. 445-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Berk Esen ◽  
Şebnem Yardımcı-Geyikçi
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Alternative Account ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Turkish Case ◽  
Western Democracies

ABSTRACTScholars tend to assume that consolidated democracies are free from the global retreat of democracy due to their strong institutions and economic development. Yet, populist forces that challenge the liberal democratic model have started to increase their support even in Western countries. However, in no country has democratic backsliding taken scholars by more surprise than in the United States. This article addresses the question of how a populist figure like Donald Trump managed to win the presidential election and subsequently undermined the democratic institutions in one of the world’s oldest democracies. We contend that the upsurge of populist leaders in contemporary Western democracies resulted from the political establishment’s failure to juggle responsiveness and responsibility simultaneously. In addition to our discussion of American politics, we draw parallels with the Turkish case to demonstrate our causal argument and offer suggestions on how to reverse democratic backsliding in the United States.

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