RESEARCH ON FEDERAL DISASTER DECLARATIONS AS A TOOL FOR POLITICAL GAIN

INTRODUCTION

"It is a known fact that political candidates seek to improve the public’s perception of them during election years to increase their chances of winning office. They actively align themselves with party values, send positive messages through the media, and appeal to the everyday American citizen. While these tactics are well known and widely used, there are some that may not be as obvious. Major disasters get ample attention from the public and can be used to boost presidential public opinion. Therefore, declarations of major disasters, issued in the right places at the right times, can be a vital tool for presidents to win reelection. This, of course, calls in to question the altruism of the American federal government and more specifically, the President. Ideally, a president would grant a disaster declaration to a state in their time of need, basing his decision purely on humanitarian values rather than singular political gain. This study seeks to determine if the issuance of major disaster declarations is intimately tied to electoral politics and partisanship. Data gathered from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (“Disaster Declarations by Year”) is analyzed to determine if, during the course of twenty-six years, the Presidents of the United States granted more major disaster declarations to governors sharing their political values or during years of presidential election, to boost public opinion."