This book introduces the reader to a new kind of case study methodology currently being used to investigate crisis and disaster management in the United States. We have found that this methodology can help academics and public officials to better understand: 1) the dynamics and processes (individual, group, institutional; bureaucratic; and psychological) that impact decision […]

If the world of crisis is changing, it is crucial to understand how policymakers perceive these new, transboundary threats. This article explores how policymakers made sense of such crises in 81 cases. The findings indicate that how much time urgency and surprise the policymakers perceived accompanied a transboundary threat helped to shape the nature of […]

Recent highly-publicized instances of severe crises, such as the 9-11 attacks, the Asian Tsunami of 2004, and the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, coupled with the increasing belief that dependency on vulnerable and critical infrastructure has made modern societies more vulnerable to crises, has elevated interest in crisis management among policy makers, managers, and researchers. There remains, […]

Dr. Ines Mergel is Associate Professor in the Department of Public Administration and International Affairs, and a Senior Research Associate in the Center for Technology and Information Policy, at SU’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. This related group of publications on the institutionalization of innovative public management practices, especially the adoption of new […]

This article contributes to the existing literature on social media use by empirically demonstrating how and to what extent state-level emergency management agencies employ social media to increase public participation and induce behavioral changes intended to reduce household and community risk.