Date of Award
12-2003
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Program
Political Science
Department
Political Science
Major Professor
Rosenblum, Marc
Second Advisor
Prins, Brandon
Third Advisor
Coulter, Philip
Fourth Advisor
Laska, Shirley
Abstract
While people all over the world are vulnerable to natural disasters, the available data clearly demonstrate a great deal of cross-country variance in the impact of catastrophic events. For example, while Hurricane Mitch took an estimated 13,000 lives when it struck Honduras and Nicaragua, the stronger Hurricane Andrew took only 26 lives when it impacted the United States. What factors explain this difference? Thus far, disaster researchers have emphasized economic and social vulnerability as determinants of disaster impact; the conventional wisdom accepts that poor and underdeveloped countries are more vulnerable than wealthy, developed countries. I argue that the political institutions of a country also matter and then examine the relative importance of political vulnerability as a determinant of disaster impact. I present evidence from case studies and large-N statistical analysis that demonstrates that, like social and economic vulnerability, political vulnerability is an important determinant of the impact of a natural disaster.
Recommended Citation
Boyd, Ezra, "The Political Determinants of the Impact of Natural Disasters: A Cross-Country Comparison" (2003). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 41.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/41
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.