"Intergovernmental Challenges of Homeland Security: Explaining Local Preparedness Efforts"
PROJECT ABSTRACT
This project will examine local governments' preparedness efforts in implementing homeland security policies. The substantive policymaking problem is that local government capacity for, and commitment to, preparedness (planning activities, placement of resources, personnel training, etc.) on natural or technological hazards is often very uneven across the United States. This is important because effective homeland security necessarily relies on local governments to be proactive in dealing with potential terror incidents as a hazard; if some, or many, local governments are either unwilling or unable to be proactive, then the nation is likely more vulnerable to attack. A key question to explore is: what exactly explains local government effort in preparing for terrorism as a hazard? To address the question, this project builds on an earlier pilot study (conducted in March 2004) which gathered information on homeland security preparedness at the local level through a nationwide mail survey of local government officials. This project extends that study by: constructing an expanded sample frame that includes both city and county officials; expanding the survey instrument on several key issues; gathering a more complete set of objective performance indicators; and conducting several case studies of different types of cities to provide greater depth to the explanation of local government preparedness efforts. The significance of the research project is that it addresses what factors determine effective hazards management policy in a federal system where, very often, the policymaking incentives facing national and state and local governments diverge. The expectation for this project is that it will identify a specific set of causal factors that explain hazard management preparedness at the local government generally, and homeland security activities specifically.
