When Government is Blocked: Self-Governance and the Continuity of Community Lifelines After Disasters

• In Event: Co-Producing Resilience: Community, Collaboration, and Policy in Crisis Response

Abstract

Following emergencies and crises, governments are not always able to provide essential services for which they are typically responsible. Instead, governmental efforts are usually concentrated on stabilization and dealing with the immediate aftermath of the emergency. In these cases, residents occasionally take the responsibility of providing services typically provided by governmental organizations, or they use self-governance to deliver essential services. As opposed to communities depending on government infrastructure to provide services or rules, with self-governance, communities create their own ways of governing (Lewis & Aligica, 2024), or in the case of this study, providing essential services such as safety and food. 

This study explores how communities throughout Central and North Florida used partnerships to engage in self-governance in the aftermath of emergencies that caused extensive power outages. We explore the mechanisms of self-governance residents described during focus groups on power outages in Florida, and consider potential impacts of self-governance on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)’s community lifelines following emergencies. FEMA developed eight community lifelines, or fundamental services needing stabilization for businesses and communities to be resilient. In addition to exploring methods of self-governance during emergencies and power outages, this study is an evaluation of how community lifelines are impacted by self-governance.  Florida experiences a variety of natural hazards, including thunderstorms, hurricanes, and tornadoes, the most significant of which cause power outages, and may face increased disruptions due to a changing climate (Senevirante et al., 2021). We use qualitative data from a series of focus groups to explore how and when communities engage in self-governance and how that process impacts the ability to be resilient following natural hazards. 

While most of the literature on self-governance considers common-pool resources during non-emergency times (Ostrom, 2010), there is limited research exploring self-governance following emergencies and crises. Further,  this would be the first study to consider the impact of self-governance on community lifelines specifically. Given the worsening of natural hazards and the increased need for emergency management, it is important to better understand self-governance to incorporate policies that encourage the restoration of community lifelines, and ultimately resilience following emergencies. This study concludes with policy recommendations to promote beneficial self-governance during future severe emergencies.

Author

• Rebecca M Entress, University of South Carolina
  Presenting Author