Evolution of disaster relief law under multiple transformations: Progressive learning or walking in a circle?

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the association between double-loop disaster learning and transformations of political systems. The particular question is how disasters increase the rapidity and complexity, with which the transforming regimes face the unsuitability and inadequacy of the past forms and processes of disaster governance. The centennial evolution of the disaster relief law at a country scale (Czech Republic, resp. Czechoslovakia, 1918-present) is used as an example. The thorough search in digital repository of Czech and Slovak Parliamentary Library was performed to obtain legislative norms and protocols from parliamentary debates, whereas major disasters that induced new laws (1927 flash flood, 1947 drought, 1997 and 2002 floods) were identified from existing databases and from detailed reconstructions of historical disastrous events. The described cases enabled to add new empirical evidence contesting (i) the process scheme of disaster politics during critical junctures and institutional transformations, and (ii) the progressive nature of the double-loop learning approach related to disasters. It is shown that the double-loop learning from disasters and its benefits should be considered as time-dependent and related to permissive and productive conditions that facilitated the adoption of the new disaster relief law (i.e. the learning process). Finally, the implications for the research agenda (historical disaster research) and for disaster policy (evaluation of disaster relief effectiveness) are summarized.