Political Support for Preparedness

In the language of disaster studies, preparedness is often a principle and set of activities referred to as mitigation. The process of disaster mitigation can include a variety of actions, both before and after a disaster. It can heighten vigilance to signs of an approaching disaster, create an in-depth knowledge of the indigenous environment, utilize products that lessen disaster damage, provide access to pre-disaster information, or study post-disaster behaviors to avoid repetitive disaster damage. Political support for preparedness or mitigation is influenced by cultural ideology; budget constraints; the perceived advantage such actions have in the political arena; how open the public is to the concept of mitigation; what role the media plays in the process; and what type of support exists on the local level ...