DISASTER RECOVERY, CADRE PERFORMANCE AND CITIZEN POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT: EVIDENCE FROM WENCHUAN EARTHQUAKE OF CHINA

Abstract

The thesis studies the relationships between politics and post-disaster recovery from the multidisciplinary perspectives, from the public policy evaluation, political capability, and livelihood research and power theory. The thesis consists of three papers that investigate the issues of public policy and disaster recovery, disaster recovery, and cadre promotion, as well as citizen political empowerment and livelihood recovery using both published data and survey data from the counties affected by the Wenchuan earthquake in China. The thesis provides new evidences on the extent and pace of post-disaster recovery after the Wenchuan earthquake in China. It also provides evidences on how the disaster recovery leaderships, in terms of the capabilities of county cadres and the power relations of the disaster survivors, have influenced on the disaster recovery at both regional level and household level. The thesis contributes to the literature of disaster politics in disaster recovery research.