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Ready When the Big One Comes? Natural Disasters and Mass Support for Preparedness Investment
Michael M Bechtel1,2, Massimo Mannino2
1Department of Political Science, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130 United States.
Political Behavior
|August 30, 2021
Summary
Voters may not support disaster preparedness due to a lack of information, not personal experience. Educating the public about preparedness benefits can reduce opposition to these crucial long-term investments.
Area of Science:
- Public policy
- Risk management
- Disaster preparedness
Background:
- Societies face collective threats like pandemics and natural disasters.
- Societies can invest in preparedness (ex ante) or offer compensation (ex post).
- Understanding voter preferences for these strategies is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate factors influencing public support for long-term disaster preparedness.
- To determine if personal exposure or policy knowledge affects support for preparedness.
- To explore the role of misperceptions in public opposition to preparedness investments.
Main Methods:
- Assessed the predictive power of subjective and geo-coded disaster exposure on policy preferences.
- Examined the impact of revealing policy information on public support.
- Analyzed how personal affectedness and policy knowledge influence support for preparedness.
Main Results:
- Neither personal disaster exposure nor affectedness predicted support for preparedness policies.
- Revealing information about damage reductions from preparedness significantly decreased opposition.
- Opposition to preparing for collective threats may stem from informational gaps.
Conclusions:
- Personal experience with disasters does not appear to drive support for preparedness.
- Improving public understanding of preparedness benefits is key to increasing support.
- Addressing informational deficiencies can overcome opposition to long-term risk management investments.
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