Presidential Particularism in Disaster Declarations and Military Base Closures
Research Question
Do presidents reflect national interests in distributing federal aid, or do they favor their partisan base?
Main Finding
Presidents disproportionately direct federal aid to counties with co-partisan governors, particularly during election years. This pattern holds across both Democratic and Republican administrations, suggesting a systematic partisan logic in executive resource allocation.
Research Design
Panel regression models of county-level FEMA disaster aid from 1996 to 2011, with interaction terms capturing the presence of co-partisan governors and electoral timing.
Data Employed
FEMA public assistance records, gubernatorial partisanship data, county-level political and demographic controls, and presidential election timing.
Substantive Importance
The findings reveal a hidden form of executive particularism that operates through federal-state cooperation. They suggest presidents use intergovernmental tools to serve political ends, raising concerns about the politicization of emergency management.
Research Areas
Presidential Particularism, Disaster Politics, Partisanship, Intergovernmental Relations, County-Level Analysis
Citation
@article{prespart,
author = {Kriner, Douglas L. and Reeves, Andrew},
title = {Presidential Particularism in Disaster Declarations and Military Base Closures},
journal = {Presidential Studies Quarterly},
volume = {45},
number = {4},
pages = {679--702},
year = {2015},
}