Governing after Crisis: The Politics of Investigation, Accountability and Learning

by Edited by Arjen Boin , Allan McConnell , Paul 't Hart

• ISBN13: 9780521885294
• ISBN10: 0521885299
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-02-11
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The constant threat of crises such as disasters, riots and terrorist attacks poses a frightening challenge to Western societies and governments. While the causes and dynamics of these events have been widely studied, we know little about what happens following their containment and the restoration of stability. This volume explores 'post-crisis politics,' examining how crises give birth to longer term dynamic processes of accountability and learning which are characterised by official investigations, blame games, political manoeuvring, media scrutiny and crisis exploitation. Drawing from a wide range of contemporary crises, including Hurricane Katrina, 9/11, the Madrid train bombings, the Walkerton water contamination, Space Shuttles Challenger and Columbia and the Boxing Day Asian tsunami, this is a ground-breaking volume which addresses the longer term impact of crisis-induced politics. Competing pressures for stability and change mean that policies, institutions and leaders may occasionally be uprooted, but often survive largely intact.

Table of Contents

Governing after crisis

Crisis-Induced Accountability

Weathering the politics of responsibility and blame: the Bush administration and its response to hurricane

A reversal of fortune: blame games and framing contests after the 3/11 terrorist attacks in Madrid

Flood response and political survival: Gerhard Schröder and the 2002 Elbe flood in Germany

The politics of tsunami responses: comparing patterns of blame management in Scandinavia

Dutroux and dioxin: crisis investigations, elite accountability and institutional reform in Belgium

Crisis-Induced Policy Change and Learning

The 1975 Stockholm embassy seizure: crisis and the absence of reform

The Walkerton water tragedy and the Jerusalem banquet hall collapse: regulatory failure and policy change

Learning from crisis: NASA and the Challenger disaster Arjen Boin

September 11 and post-crisis investigation: exploring the role and impact of the 9/11 commission

Conclusions: the politics of crisis exploitation

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