Political Disasters: The Politics of U.S. Disaster Relief, 1927-2005

This study combines the fields of political and environmental history to understand the evolution of federal disaster relief policy in the United States from 1927-2005, specifically the development of US federal natural disaster relief as a component of the welfare state. The institutionalization of disaster relief as a function of the welfare state occurred because the New Deal’s unprecedented bureaucratic apparatus combined with major disasters and the need for assistance; the confluence established the government’s dominate role in disaster relief. Over the course of the twentieth century, federal disaster relief policy developed and increased alongside the expansion of presidential authority and a welfare state that increasingly became bureaucratically complex. Yet, at the same time, the success of the welfare state has been stymied by consistent traditions of individualism, limited government, a belief in the market economy, and ineffective bureaucracy. In examining the affects of disaster policy on the people, disaster relief, like the welfare state in general, often overlooks the people who would most benefit from federal help because it focuses primarily on the maintenance and extension of capitalism. This study also describes the negative affects of disaster relief policy on certain groups and classes such as racial and ethnic minorities and those who do not own property. The study helps to explain why federal relief has historically failed to directly ease the burdens of many disaster victims. The simple answer: it was never designed for that purpose.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

History

Grantor

University of Houston

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Author dc:creator

• Schuster, Natalie M.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Young, Nancy B.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Melosi, Martin V.
• Mizelle, Richard M., Jr.
• Rottinghaus, Brandon

• Disaster relief
• Natural disasters

Statement dc:rights

• The author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s).

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10657/1397

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uh-ir.tdl.org:10657/1397