Public Opinion and Public Support in Crisis Management
Research Question
How do public opinion, voter accountability, and electoral incentives shape executive crisis management, especially in natural-disaster response?
Main Finding
Crises heighten attention to executive performance, and voters often respond to both disaster impacts and government action. This creates incentives for leaders to manage blame, claim credit, and target response in electorally valuable settings.
Research Design
Synthetic review chapter that integrates research on crisis management, federal disaster response, voter retrospection, and executive accountability.
Data Employed
Evidence synthesized from prior studies using election returns, survey data, media analysis, and administrative records on disaster response.
Substantive Importance
The chapter clarifies how democratic accountability operates under stress, showing that crisis governance is shaped by institutions, political incentives, and public reactions to executive decisions.
Research Areas
Crisis Management, Disaster Politics, Public Opinion, Democratic Accountability, Federalism
Citation
@incollection{crisis,
author = {Ang, Zoe and Noble, Benjamin and Reeves, Andrew},
title = {Public Opinion and Public Support in Crisis Management},
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Crisis Analysis},
publisher = {Oxford University Press},
year = {2021},
}