The Lessons of Civil Defense Federalism for the Homeland Security Era

Roberts identifies the link between national security politics and disaster politics. The connection has been evinced most recently by the Department of Homeland Security's absorption of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), but Roberts shows that this is not simply a new vari...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of policy history 2014-07, Vol.26 (3), p.354-383
Main Author: Roberts, Patrick S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Civil defense
Disasters
National security
Public policy
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Summary:Roberts identifies the link between national security politics and disaster politics. The connection has been evinced most recently by the Department of Homeland Security's absorption of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), but Roberts shows that this is not simply a new variation on an old theme, for DHS's intensely top-down approach to emergency management is fundamentally new. He illustrates this through a comparison with civil defense arrangements during the early Cold War, showing that Washington exhibited a much greater confidence in the capacity of states and local officials a half-century or so ago than is the case today.
ISSN:0898-0306
1528-4190
DOI:10.1017/S0898030614000165