The impact of intergovernmental distance on disaster communications

ABSTRACT

Previous research into disaster communications, while fairly extensive, has been limited primarily to sociological analysis and organizational theory. This body of research, however, has not explored disaster communications in a federal, international or other multi-level governmental response system. This paper expands upon existing research to present a new theory of intergovernmental disaster communications. The theory is based on the concept of intergovernmental distance, which refers to distance in terms of differing procedures and approaches used by organizations in different functional areas at various levels of government. The theory postulates that the organizational distance created by these differences becomes a critical factor that must be addressed during a disaster. The study employs three sets of dimensions. The first is two dimensions and examines distances between functional areas at various levels of government. The second is three dimensional and considers distances between functional area and central management. The third is multidimensional. Here a multiple regression equation is used to analyze intergovernmental distance. The study concludes by addressing the policy implications of the findings, especially the need to overcome inherent intergovernmental distance through disaster planning, the need to recognize the exponential increase in communications problems caused by increases in the number of disaster responders, and the need to determine if the marginal benefits contributed by each new responder exceed the marginal communication and coordination costs each responder imposes