Handbook of Disaster and Emergency Policies and Institutions

by Handmer, John W.; Dovers, Stephen

• ISBN13: 9781844073597
• ISBN10: 1844073599
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-12-30
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

From the Asian tsunami to hurricanes Katrina and Rita to the earthquake in Pakistan, disasters both natural and human-induced are leading to spiraling costs in terms of human lives, the destruction of homes, businesses, public buildings, and infrastructure, and the resulting financial and human crises that inevitably follow in the wake of such catastrophes. Yet the failures in planning for--and responding to--such disasters can often be traced to poor disaster policies that are unsuited to the emerging scales of the problems they confront and the lack of institutional capacity to manage disasters when they happen. This handbook, written by two top authorities on disaster policy and management, overcomes this mismatch and guides the examination and development of a policy and institutional framework and associated strategies. In particular, for the first time it brings together into a coherent framework the insights of public policy, institutional design, and emergency and disaster management, stressing the cognate nature of policy and institutional challenges between disasters and sustainability. This is indispensable reading for all disaster planners, policymakers, and managers across the world.

Author Biography

John Handmer is Innovation Professor at RMIT University, Melbourne, Adjunct Professor at The Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, and Visiting Professor, Flood Hazard Research Centre, Middlesex University, UK.

Table of Contents

List of Figures, Tables and Boxes	p. viii
Acknowledgements	p. x
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations	p. xii
Introduction: The Context and Aims of this Book	p. xiv
Constructing the Problem	p. 1
The Nature of Emergencies and Disasters	p. 3
Overview of disaster trends	p. 5
Emergency and disaster institutions	p. 6
The nature of disasters and emergencies: Cause and effect	p. 8
Evolution of emergency management: From 'acts of God' to socially constructed disasters	p. 11
Illustrative vignettes	p. 14
Key challenges	p. 25
The Nature of Policy and Institutions	p. 29
Core concepts and terms	p. 31
Traditions and trends in policy analysis	p. 33
Policy styles and the political environment	p. 41
Emergencies and disasters as policy and institutional problems	p. 43
Reconciling policy with emergencies and disasters	p. 45
Constructing the Response	p. 47
A Policy and Institutional Framework for Emergencies and Disasters	p. 49
Policy cycles meet emergency risk management	p. 49
A framework for policy and institutional analysis	p. 53
Using the framework	p. 56
Owning the Problem: Politics, Participation and Communication	p. 59
Policy and politics	p. 59
Who? Defining 'community'	p. 60
Why? Purposes and degrees of participation	p. 64
How? Options for community engagement	p. 69
Communication: The lifeblood of participation	p. 76
Communication challenges	p. 79
Conclusion	p. 80
Framing the Problem: Identifying and Analysing Risk	p. 83
Problem framing	p. 83
Cause-effect linkages	p. 86
Pervasive uncertainty	p. 89
Attributes of emergency management policy problems	p. 91
A typology of disasters and emergencies	p. 93
Routine	p. 94
Non-routine	p. 94
Complex emergencies	p. 95
The risk standard	p. 97
Hierarchy of goals, issues and problems	p. 100
Conclusion	p. 101
Responding to the Problem: Policy Formulation and Implementation	p. 103
Broad policy choice: Generic resilience or specific instruments?	p. 103
Generic approaches to hazards management	p. 105
Specific approaches to hazards management	p. 106
For crisis response: Flexibility and adaptability	p. 107
Policy problems and policy instruments	p. 109
Policy instruments and styles for implementation	p. 110
Policy styles and attributes required for implementation	p. 116
Implementation attributes	p. 120
Conclusion	p. 122
Not Forgetting: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning	p. 125
Uncertainty, time and learning	p. 125
Policy and institutional learning: Purposes and forms	p. 128
Basic information capture	p. 136
Evaluation: The precondition for learning	p. 137
Research and education	p. 140
Prospects for learning	p. 142
Institutional Settings for Emergencies and Disasters: Form, Function and Coordination	p. 145
Institutions: The key to common endeavours	p. 145
Institutions and emergencies: Status and issues	p. 148
Purpose, form and principles	p. 155
Learning, law and liability	p. 158
Conclusion	p. 159
Constructing the Future	p. 161
Future Prospects	p. 163
How disastrous a future?	p. 163
Key challenges	p. 167
Prospects: Anticipation, resilience and adaptation	p. 169
References	p. 171
Index	p. 179
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