ABSTRACT
Governments are expected to develop and implement mitigation and recovery programs for when a natural hazard strikes. The goal of the state is to maintain "the status quo and political quiescence in the population". Because government elites want to remain in power, when faced with threats or potential threats, they choose policies that best secure their political position. Accommodation is less politically costly in this situation than repression for elected governments. As Shellman's research indicates, "Since dissident hostility is costly to a government leader's tenure, they prefer cooperative dissident actions to hostile dissident actions. Disasters, and the government's subsequent loss of legitimacy, can clearly increase challenges to state power in these political settings. Leaders may fear the loss of power when confronted with civil unrest and, in their desperate desire to hold onto power, they can escalate challenges into violent repression.
