Adaptive governance for resilience in the wake of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

Abstract

This study shows how the framework of adaptive governance, originally from the fields of environmental management and climate change, can be used to understand governance dynamics in the area of disaster management. By investigating the case of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, the study argues that Japan's semi-decentralized disaster governance could have been paralyzed at the municipal level due to manpower shortages at municipal government offices and their third-sector organizations. A variety of institutional arrangements were invented to muster manpower from various corners of Japan to help disaster-hit municipalities. This awakened Japan's polycentric governance systems, enabling adaptive disaster governance and thereby boosting governance capability. This experience suggests that decentralized disaster governance, prepared to mobilize its polycentric governance systems, is the key to effectively managing disasters, small and large.