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Shifting the Blame: Federalism, Media, and Public Assignment of Blame Following Hurricane Katrina

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  • Cherie D. Maestas
  • Lonna Rae Atkeson
  • Thomas Croom
  • Lisa A. Bryant

Abstract

Federalism sprang to the forefront in public debates about the response to Hurricane Katrina as officials from the national, state, and local government sought to shift blame to other levels of government. Our analysis shows that attempts by national political actors to frame the response as the fault of state government actions were successful, but the size of the effect was conditional on predispositions. Those who were more attentive to coverage were more likely to believe that state failure to call for help had a great effect on the length of time it took for national government to provide aid to New Orleans. The effect was strongest for Republicans, however, suggesting that predispositions mediate acceptance of elite frames that transfer blame. Copyright 2008, Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Cherie D. Maestas & Lonna Rae Atkeson & Thomas Croom & Lisa A. Bryant, 2008. "Shifting the Blame: Federalism, Media, and Public Assignment of Blame Following Hurricane Katrina," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 38(4), pages 609-632, Fall.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:publus:v:38:y:2008:i:4:p:609-632
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/publius/pjn021
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    Cited by:

    1. Baker, C. Richard, 2014. "Breakdowns of accountability in the face of natural disasters: The case of Hurricane Katrina," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(7), pages 620-632.
    2. Julio López-Laborda & Fernando Rodrigo & Eduardo Sanz-Arcega, 2020. "Who knows whom we pay taxes to? Tax visibility in a decentralized country: The case of Spain," Studies on the Spanish Economy eee2020-15, FEDEA.
    3. Ana Herrero-Alcalde & José Manuel Tránchez Martín & María Goenaga Ruiz de Zuazu, 2018. "Revisiting Responsibility Attribution within Multilevel Governments: The Role of Information," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 226(3), pages 37-58, September.
    4. Till Feier & Jan Gogoll & Matthias Uhl, 2021. "Hiding Behind Machines: When Blame Is Shifted to Artificial Agents," Papers 2101.11465, arXiv.org.
    5. Poullikka, Agni, 2024. "The 2013 Cypriot banking crisis and blame attribution: survey evidence from the first application of a bail-in in the Eurozone," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121228, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Bolle, Friedel, 2017. "Passing the Buck On the acceptance of responsibility," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 86-101.
    7. Agni Poullikka, 2024. "The 2013 Cypriot Banking Crisis and Blame Attribution: survey evidence from the first application of a bail-in in the Eurozone," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 192, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    8. James Garnett & Alexander Kouzmin, 2009. "Crisis Communication Post Katrina: What are we Learning?," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 9(4), pages 385-398, December.
    9. Adam M. Straub, 2021. "“Natural disasters don’t kill people, governments kill people:” hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico–recreancy, and ‘risk society’," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 105(2), pages 1603-1621, January.
    10. Wesley Wehde & Matthew C Nowlin, 2021. "Public Attribution of Responsibility for Disaster Preparedness across Three Levels of Government and the Public: Lessons from a Survey of Residents of the U.S. South Atlantic and Gulf Coast," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 51(2), pages 212-237.
    11. Thomas Husted & David Nickerson, 2021. "Private Support for Public Disaster Aid," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-19, June.
    12. Laura N. Rickard & Z. Janet Yang & Jonathon P. Schuldt & Gina M. Eosco & Clifford W. Scherer & Ricardo A. Daziano, 2017. "Sizing Up a Superstorm: Exploring the Role of Recalled Experience and Attribution of Responsibility in Judgments of Future Hurricane Risk," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(12), pages 2334-2349, December.

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