Public Preferences for Disaster Federalism: Comparing Public Risk Management Preferences Across Levels of Government and Hazards

• Published date: 01 July 2022
• Author: Wesley Wehde,Junghwa Choi
• Date: 01 July 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13432

Research Article

Public Preferences for Disaster Federalism: Comparing PublicRisk Management Preferences Across Levels of Government and Hazards 733

Abstract: Despite a general lack of political knowledge among the public, research demonstrates that individuals

intuitively know which level of government should be, and sometimes is, responsible for policy problems. In this

article, we look at public federalism preferences in the context of disaster management, particularly for managing the

risks associated with three different types of hazards—specifically global warming, earthquakes, and wildfires—and

examine if their preferences are aligned with the division of responsibility in disaster management. Using survey data

from Oklahoma, we find that individuals appropriately match their preferences to the intergovernmental nature of

disaster federalism in the United States. Additionally, knowing the causes of these hazards is strongly associated with

a preference for the appropriate, to disaster scope and scale, level of government. Finally, using seemingly unrelated

regression techniques, we find that many, but not all, relationships are hazard general while some are hazard specific.

Evidence for Practice

• Members of the public seem to possess nuanced “intuitive federalism,” recognizing the intergovernmental

nature of disaster management.

• The public’s “intuitive federalism” extends to preferring the level of government more appropriate for the

scope and scale of managing certain disasters, specifically wildfires and earthquakes.

• Public education campaigns focused on hazards’ causes, not risk perceptions, may increase support for the

appropriate, defined by typical disaster scope and scale, level of government.

Scholars have previously argued that the public

does not have strong views on the federal system

in the United States or other countries such as

Canada (Cantril and Cantril1999; Cutler2008).

This may not be surprising, given the public’s lack

of political knowledge (Page and Shapiro1992;

Price1999). However, a more recent body of research

has found that the public can differentiate between

the responsibilities of the levels of government in

a federal system (Arceneaux2005; Konisky2011;

Schneider and Jacoby2013). This body of

scholarship has demonstrated that individuals have

“intuitive federalism” (Arceneaux2005; Schneider

and Jacoby2013). Intuitive federalism is the idea

individuals develop preferences for which level of

government should be responsible for policy problems

without necessarily being politically knowledgeable

(Schneider and Jacoby2013). Scholars have also

found that public preferences for federalism may be

shaped by demographics, political dispositions, and

problem definitions (Dinan and Heckelman2020;

Schneider2008; Wehde and Nowlin2021).

In this article, we explore public federalism

preferences for three hazards and if these preferences

match the reality of policy provision. Furthermore,

we seek to analyze the determinants of individual

federalism preferences, in the understudied context

of disaster management. Previous work in this

domain has either looked at disaster management

generally (Schneider2008) or at singular hazards

(Choi and Wehde2019). We build on this work by

comparing federalism preferences across multiple

hazards. Comparing preferences across hazards is

important as previous research has demonstrated that

hazard characteristics help explain public attitudes

and beliefs (Choi and Wehde2020; Robinson,

Stoutenborough, and Vedlitz2017). Additionally,

while others have focused on delineating policies and

public preferences across levels of government, we

argue that policy is often actually provided through

intergovernmental collaboration. The measurement

strategies of previous research on intuitive federalism

preclude examining the possibility that individual

members of the public recognize that multiple

levels of government are responsible for disaster

management. We improve upon this research by

examining data that allow for respondents to report

their level of preference for both state and federal

policy intervention.

Public Preferences for Disaster Federalism: Comparing

PublicRisk Management Preferences Across Levels

of Government and Hazards

Wesley Wehde Junghwa Choi

East Tennessee State University University of North Carolina - Pembroke

Junghwa Choi is an Assistant Professor of

Political Science and Public Administration

at the University of North Carolina at

Pembroke. Her research primarily focuses

on individual behaviors, perceptions, and

preferences in the context of disaster

management policy.

Email: junghwa.choi@uncp.edu

Wesley Wehde is an Assistant Professor

of Political Science and Public Policy

at East Tennessee State University. His

research focuses on the role of federalism

in environmental and natural hazards

policy preferences as well as disaster

communication and response.

Email: wehdew@etsu.edu

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 82, Iss. 4, pp. 733–746. © 2021 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.13432.