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Political Sophistication and Attributions of Blame in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina

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  • Brad T. Gomez
  • J. Matthew Wilson

Abstract

The governmental response to Hurricane Katrina was widely perceived to be flawed and inadequate. However, given the number of actors involved in coordinating relief efforts, both in the private sector and at all levels of government, attributions of responsibility vary widely. Drawing on the Theory of Heterogeneous Attribution, we explore the relationship between political sophistication and assessments of blame for the delayed governmental response. Using data from a survey of Louisiana residents, we find that citizens at higher levels of sophistication are less likely to find the federal government chiefly to blame, and more likely to fault actors at the state level. Moreover, less sophisticated respondents tend to focus blame disproportionately on the president, a tendency to which the more sophisticated are not as prone. Copyright 2008, Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Brad T. Gomez & J. Matthew Wilson, 2008. "Political Sophistication and Attributions of Blame in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 38(4), pages 633-650, Fall.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:publus:v:38:y:2008:i:4:p:633-650
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/publius/pjn016
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    Cited by:

    1. Eunbin Chung & Inbok Rhee, 2022. "Disasters and intergroup peace in sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 59(1), pages 58-72, January.
    2. 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.
    3. Damon C. Roberts & Stephen M. Utych, 2021. "Polarized social distancing: Residents of Republican‐majority counties spend more time away from home during the COVID‐19 crisis," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(6), pages 2516-2527, November.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. Nicholas Clark & Timothy Hellwig, 2012. "Information effects and mass support for EU policy control," European Union Politics, , vol. 13(4), pages 535-557, December.

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