Doctoral Dissertation Research in DRMS: Natural Disasters and the Sociotechnical Foundations of Governance

University Of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

This dissertation examines how disaster-induced institutional reforms coupled with post-disaster capacity building through reconstruction projects have significantly enhanced governance effectiveness in the one low-income, fragile state. Governance systems are composed of networks of public, private, and international organizations that make collaborative decisions to solve public issues. Increasing the effectiveness of governance systems is critical for improving human security and prosperity across the world, especially in developing country settings. Large-scale natural disasters often create windows of opportunity for improving the effectiveness of governance systems by reforming the rules and norms that guide decisions, interactions and operations of networked organizations. Collaborative post-disaster reconstruction operations provide opportunities for augmenting the effectiveness of governance systems by improving resource capacity, informational infrastructure, and social support base of interorganizational networks. While much work has been done on expanding resource capacity of governance systems, especially in the context of post-conflict reconstruction and state building, little research has examined the sociotechnical foundations of governance effectiveness: how information and trust facilitate social learning and adaptive capacity, especially at the nexus of post-disaster reconstruction and governance reforms. Specifically, this dissertation research traces Nepal's new constitution of September 20, 2015 and the resulting transition from a unitary governance system to a federal system of seven autonomous provinces back to the April/May 2015 earthquakes and the post-earthquake reconstruction efforts. The objective of such process-tracing is to reveal the mechanisms of change that logically connect the earthquakes and post-earthquake reconstruction operations with the changes in Nepal's governance system. Setting up a pre-post research design with a focus on short and medium-term effects, the research uses several sources of secondary as well as original expert interview data to measure changes in resource capacity, informational infrastructure, and the social support base. Resource capacity measures are constructed using government statistical reports, foreign aid donor reports, the Prime Ministers Disaster Relief Fund data and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs financial tracking data. The informational capacity of the system is measured using knowledge graph datasets of the "Global Data on Events, Location and Tone" database that records organizations and their dyadic interactions in the context of Nepal's governance system and post-disaster reconstruction. Changes in the social support base are measured using news articles, opinion surveys of news organizations and think tanks as well as multiple waves of post-earthquake citizen feedback surveys conducted by civil society organizations and international development organizations. Semi-structured expert interview data and field observations from Nepal cross-validates the findings of the study and uncovers nuances to the specified mechanisms of change. The resulting analyses show how the 2015 earthquakes and post-earthquake rebuilding projects have significantly shaped the governance system of Nepal. This case study contributes to the broader literature in collaborative disaster governance, humanitarian assistance, and post-disaster governance reforms in developing countries. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.