Doctoral Dissertation Research in DRMS: Natural Disasters and the Sociotechnical Foundations of Governance

本文探讨了灾害引发的制度改革以及通过重建项目进行的灾后能力建设如何显着提高了这个低收入、脆弱国家的治理有效性。治理系统由公共、私人和国际组织网络组成，这些组织通过合作决策来解决公共问题。提高治理系统的效力对于改善全世界特别是发展中国家的人的安全和繁荣至关重要。大规模自然灾害往往为改进治理系统的效力创造机会之窗，办法是改革指导联网组织的决策、互动和运作的规则和规范。灾后合作重建行动通过改善资源能力、信息基础设施和组织间网络的社会支持基础，为增强治理系统的有效性提供了机会。虽然在扩大治理系统的资源能力方面做了大量工作，特别是在冲突后重建和国家建设方面，但很少有研究探讨治理效力的社会技术基础：信息和信任如何促进社会学习和适应能力，特别是在灾后重建和治理改革的关系方面。具体而言，本论文的研究追溯尼泊尔的新宪法的2015年9月20日，从单一的治理体系，七个自治省的联邦制度的过渡回到2015年4月/5月的地震和震后重建工作。这种进程追踪的目的是揭示将地震和震后重建行动与尼泊尔治理制度的变化联系起来的变化机制。建立一个前后研究设计，重点是短期和中期的影响，研究使用了几个来源的二手以及原始专家访谈数据来衡量资源能力，信息基础设施和社会支持基础的变化。资源能力计量是利用政府统计报告、外国援助捐助者报告、总理救灾基金数据和联合国人道主义事务协调厅财务跟踪数据构建的。该系统的信息能力是使用“事件、位置和音调全球数据”数据库的知识图谱数据集来衡量的，该数据库记录了尼泊尔治理系统和灾后重建背景下的组织及其二元互动。社会支持基础的变化是通过新闻文章、新闻机构和智库的民意调查以及民间社会组织和国际发展组织在地震后进行的多波公民反馈调查来衡量的。来自尼泊尔的半结构化专家访谈数据和实地观察相互验证了研究结果，并揭示了具体变化机制的细微差别。分析结果显示，2015年地震和震后重建项目如何显著塑造了尼泊尔的治理体系。该案例研究为发展中国家灾害治理、人道主义援助和灾后治理改革方面的更广泛文献做出了贡献。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This dissertation examines how disaster-induced institutional reforms coupled with post-disaster capacity building through reconstruction projects have significantly enhanced governance effectiveness in the one low-income, fragile state. Governance systems are composed of networks of public, private, and international organizations that make collaborative decisions to solve public issues. Increasing the effectiveness of governance systems is critical for improving human security and prosperity across the world, especially in developing country settings. Large-scale natural disasters often create windows of opportunity for improving the effectiveness of governance systems by reforming the rules and norms that guide decisions, interactions and operations of networked organizations. Collaborative post-disaster reconstruction operations provide opportunities for augmenting the effectiveness of governance systems by improving resource capacity, informational infrastructure, and social support base of interorganizational networks. While much work has been done on expanding resource capacity of governance systems, especially in the context of post-conflict reconstruction and state building, little research has examined the sociotechnical foundations of governance effectiveness: how information and trust facilitate social learning and adaptive capacity, especially at the nexus of post-disaster reconstruction and governance reforms. Specifically, this dissertation research traces Nepal's new constitution of September 20, 2015 and the resulting transition from a unitary governance system to a federal system of seven autonomous provinces back to the April/May 2015 earthquakes and the post-earthquake reconstruction efforts. The objective of such process-tracing is to reveal the mechanisms of change that logically connect the earthquakes and post-earthquake reconstruction operations with the changes in Nepal's governance system. Setting up a pre-post research design with a focus on short and medium-term effects, the research uses several sources of secondary as well as original expert interview data to measure changes in resource capacity, informational infrastructure, and the social support base. Resource capacity measures are constructed using government statistical reports, foreign aid donor reports, the Prime Ministers Disaster Relief Fund data and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs financial tracking data. The informational capacity of the system is measured using knowledge graph datasets of the "Global Data on Events, Location and Tone" database that records organizations and their dyadic interactions in the context of Nepal's governance system and post-disaster reconstruction. Changes in the social support base are measured using news articles, opinion surveys of news organizations and think tanks as well as multiple waves of post-earthquake citizen feedback surveys conducted by civil society organizations and international development organizations. Semi-structured expert interview data and field observations from Nepal cross-validates the findings of the study and uncovers nuances to the specified mechanisms of change. The resulting analyses show how the 2015 earthquakes and post-earthquake rebuilding projects have significantly shaped the governance system of Nepal. This case study contributes to the broader literature in collaborative disaster governance, humanitarian assistance, and post-disaster governance reforms in developing countries.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.