Italy, Japan, And The United States Effects Of Centralization On Disaster Responses 1964-1969

Date
1977
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Disaster Research Center
Abstract
Description
Three natural disasters are studied in each of three countries Italy, Japan, and the United States, in this effort to understand the effect of societal context on the manner in which natural disaster response functions are performed. The study of these nations is approached from an institutional/structural perspective in which demographic, economic, political, communication, family, and religious variables are examined as they affect the warning, emergency preparedness, evacuation, inventory, victim care, security, welfare, and emergency restoration of services functions of disaster response. The general nature of the study is exploratory, and, while some attention is given to all the institutional/structural variables listed, there is particular emphasis placed on the degree of political centralization as an independent variable. In terms of the relationships between institutional/structural variables and the performance of disaster functions, the following questions were asked: How were the functions carried out? Where did the functions take place, i.e., the geographical location of the activity? Who were the individuals, groups, and organizations involved in the activities? What difficulties were encountered? The following questions about the impact of political centralization on disaster response, guided the research: At what levels of government are key decisions made? Does the level of decision making vary according to normal times versus disaster periods and/or the area, subject and content of matters being decided, and/or policy decisions versus operational decisions? Is there a different pattern of decision making in disaster response functions in a decentralized nation as contrasted to a centralized nation?
Keywords
Italy, Japan, Centralization, Disaster Responses, United States, Natural Disasters
Citation