Local Politics of Environmental Disaster Risk Management

• Published date: 01 March 2017
• Date: 01 March 2017
• Author: Patricio Valdivieso,Krister P. Andersson
• DOI: 10.1177/1070496516685369
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Local Politics of

Environmental Disaster

Risk Management:

Institutional Analysis and

Lessons From Chile

Patricio Valdivieso

1

and Krister P. Andersson

2

Abstract

Why do some local governments successfully address issues related to environmen-

tal disaster risk management (EDRM), while others do not? This research contrib-

utes to a growing literature about the relationships between institutions, multilevel

governance, and EDRM at the local level in developing countries. Supported by the

frameworks of institutional analysis and polycentric governance, as well as an

in-depth case study of three municipalities in Chile (Cauquenes, Lebu, and

Panguipulli) with data from primary sources (e.g., interviews, surveys applied to

representative samples of householders, and archival research), this study identifies

the types of institutional responses that appear to improve governance outcomes.

The analysis reveals that municipal operational rules combined with representation,

municipal structures, institutional trajectories, and polycentric relationships between

municipal governing councils and society are influential factors for successful EDRM.

Keywords

environmental management, disaster risk reduction, institutional arrangements,

polycentricity, municipalities

Journal of Environment &

Development

2017, Vol. 26(1) 51–81

!The Author(s) 2017

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DOI: 10.1177/1070496516685369

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1

Centro de Estudios del Desarrollo Regional y Polı

´ticas Pu

´blicas, Universidad de los Lagos, Osorno, Chile

2

Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA

Corresponding Author:

Patricio Valdivieso, Centro de Estudios del Desarrollo Regional y Polı

´ticas Pu

´blicas, Universidad de Los

Lagos, Francis Drake 875, Santiago, Chile.

Email: pvaldivf@gmail.com

The central puzzle of this research is why there is such great subnational varia-

tion in public decisions about environmental disaster risk management (EDRM)

in a developing-country context. This is of particular interest given that all

subnational units have access to the same public programs, are part of the

same national governance regime, and are subject to the same public policies.

We address this question through an institutional analysis with a focus on local

institutional arrangements and polycentricity, which seeks to disentangle how

these institutions af‌fect decisions, actions, and outcomes with regard to EDRM.

In line with holistic international frameworks and a growing literature, our

study aims to explain decisions and outcomes in EDRM at the subnational level:

for example, f‌inancial and human resources and investment, planning and

procedures or protocols, structural and nonstructural measures, environmental

protection measures and actions, environmental impact assessment, risk reduc-

tion actions, citizen education, and involvement (Intergovernmental Panel on

Climate Change [IPCC], 2012, pp. 421–424). We use the term EDRM when we

refer to these decisions, activities, and outcomes.

The institutional analysis for the study of EDRM integrates several factors

and relationships that inf‌luence individual and organizational behaviors, deci-

sions, and outcomes (e.g., McGinnis, 1999; E. Ostrom, 1990, 2005). In this

article, we consider polycentricity as particularly important for EDRM analysis

(E. Ostrom, 1990, p.135; V. Ostrom, Tiebout, & Warren, 1961, p. 831). A poly-

centric order is conceptualized as a complex system of nested jurisdictions, where

interactions of linked autonomous agents and rules operate at various scales.

Decisions and outcomes in one dimension or scale af‌fect decisions at other levels

(Andersson & Ostrom, 2008, pp. 71, 74–76; McGinnis, 1999, p. 6; E. Ostrom,

2005, pp. 60–61; V. Ostrom et al., 1961, p. 831).

Chile is an interesting case for this type of institutional analysis because

Chilean municipalities are threatened by environmental degradation and disas-

ter risk but have modest performance and notorious variation in EDRM out-

comes (Barton et al., 2014; Economic Commission for Latin America and the

Caribbean [ECLAC], 2012; IPCC, 2012; Sa

´nchez, 2010; World Bank, 2009).

This study aims to generate quality information and useful analysis for scholars

and decision makers on institutional factors of EDRM. Employing institutional

analysis, we study three Chilean municipalities af‌fected by environmental degra-

dation and natural disaster risks but with dif‌ferences in EDRM outcomes during

the period 2008 to 2014. We use qualitative and quantitative methods to do a

contextualized analysis of why these outcomes dif‌fer even though the three sites

appear to face very similar environmental risks. Our methodology allows us to

generate parameters for these three sites based on information from primary

sources (e.g., interviews, surveys applied to representative samples of house-

holders, and archival research).

We develop and examine an argument about the ef‌fects of institutional

arrangements, polycentric relationships, and social resources on decisions

52 Journal of Environment & Development 26(1)