Political Economy of FEMA Disaster Payments (Essay Sample)

Political Economy of FEMA Disaster Payments
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Political Economy of FEMA Disaster Payments
The article titled "Political Economy of FEMA Disaster Payments" is a study aimed at providing empirical evidence that answers the question of whether the Federal Emergency Management Agency conducts its activities under the influence of congress and the president. The study is conducted by Thomas Garrett and Russell Sobel, and they provide compelling evidence to back their case. The public choice theory directs the study, and a variety of variables is created to identify the areas and severity of political influence on the activities of FEMA. The selection of data to analyze is meticulous, and measures are put instituted to identify and isolate statistics that depict political influence.
The steps taken to come up with the report depict thoughtfulness, especially when taken into consideration that the subject being tackled is a well-known, almost obvious phenomenon. The aspect of politics influencing non-political elements is pervasive and extends into various societal facets. Politicians never let slip an opportunity to flex their powers or exhibit their influence. With congress playing an oversight role over many institutions, and the president wielding executive powers, it is expected that the two combine regularly to influence matters such as public policy and expenditure, or sometimes one is pit against the other in a battle of supremacy. In the case of FEMA, influence from the president and congress is expected. Nine congressional committees oversee FEMA operations.
It means that the Agency is mostly walking a tight rope in regards to relations with members of these committees, and as such, has to make concessions gratuitous moves in order to placate their overseers. The president, under the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of 1988, has the power to declare a disaster at will. The ambiguous wording of the act essentially means that anything can be declared a disaster if the president says so. The act specifically refutes the use of any mathematical formula to calculate the severity of a disaster, and the amount of assistance that the disaster warrants. It results in a loose legal situation that opens up the agency from external influence, more so from the politicians.
The Stafford Act fails on two major levels. The first failure results from its ambiguity, which offers the president unlimited disaster declaration powers. It means that, even if the president carries out this task to the best of his abilities, his motives will always put through questions as a guiding legal framework is non-existent. Whenever a disaster is declared, the president has certainly been in touch with numerous advisers and has received various opinions on how to proceed. As much as the decision could be motivated by political factors, it could also be motivated by social, economic and environmental dynamics. At the end of it all, the president cannot declare an emergency where non-exists, as it will put his whole administration into question. Although political machinations might drive the president, the bottom-line is that only an occurrence of a significant detrimental event will motivate a president to declare a disaster. No president is foolish enough to declare a disaster where there is none, or deny making this declaration when American citizens stand to suffer.
The second failure of the Stafford Act is its decision not to utilize an empirical formula to determine the amount of funds that a disaster should attract. This failure exposes FEMA to greater danger of manipulation as compared to the powers it issues a president. For instance, the president's decision on whether or not to declare an emergency is justifiable, but the allocation of funds could be influenced by a number of unjustifiable factors. Ideally, the act should have set out a number of metrics that would have been used to determine the amount of funds allocated towards a specific disaster. Similar to the Richter scale used to measure the severity of earthquakes, a scale that measures the severity of a disaster would have come in handy. It would have eliminated the extent of external influence on FEMA. For instance, regardless of the composit...