Although the causes and dynamics of these events have been widely studied, little is known about what happens following their containment and the restoration of stability. This volume explores postcrisis politics, examining how crises give birth to longer-term dynamic processes of accountability and learning characterised by official investigations,blame games, political manoeuvering, media scrutiny and crisis exploitation.

The constant threat of crises such as disasters, riots and terrorist attacks poses a frightening challenge to Western societies and govern ments. Although the causes and dynamics of these events have been widely studied, little is known about what happens following their containment and the restoration of stability. This volume explores postcrisis politics, examining how crises give birth to longer-term dynamic processes of accountability and learning characterised by official investigations,blame games, political manoeuvering, media scrutiny and crisis exploitation. Drawing from a wide range of contemporary crises, including Hurricane Katrina, 9/11, the Madrid train bombings, the Walkerton water contamination, the destruction of the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia and the Boxing Day Asian tsunami, this grou ndbreaking volu me addresses the longer-term impact ofcrisisinduced politics. Competing pressures for stability and change mean that policies, institutions and leaders may occasionally be uprooted but often survive largely intact.This volume exploreswhy and under what conditions preservation trumps reform in the wake of crisis.

List of illustrations  

List of tables

Contributors

1 Introduction

 Governing after crisis

 Arjen Boin, Allan McConnell and Paul 't Hart

 Part I Crisis-induced accountability

2 Weathering the politics of responsibility and blame: the

 Bush administration and its response to Hurricane

 Katrina

 Thomas Preston

3 A reversal of fortune: blame games and framing contests

 after the 3/11 terrorist attacks in Madrid

 Jose A. Olmeda

4 Flood response and political survival: Gerhard Schreder

 and the 2002 Elbe flood in Germany

 Evelyn Bytzek

5 The politics of tsunami responses: comparing patterns of

 blame management in Scandinavia

 Annika BrindstrSm, Sanneke Kuipers and Pair Daleus

6 Dutroux and dioxin: crisis investigations, elite

 accountability and institutional reform in Belgium

 Sofie Staelraeve and Pault Hart

 Part II Crisis-induced policy change and learning

7 The 1975 Stockholm embassy seizure: crisis and

 the absence of reform

 Dan HansSn

8 The Walkerton water tragedy and the Jerusalem banquet

 hall collapse: regulatory failure and policy change

 Robert Schwartz and Allan McConnell

9 Learning from crisis: NASA and the Challenger disaster

 Arjen Boin

10 September 11 and postcrisis investigation: exploring the

 role and impact of the 9/11 Commission

 Charles F. Parker and Sander Dekker

 Conclusion

11 Conclusions: the politics of crisis exploitation

 Arjen Boin, Paul't Hart and Allan McConnell

Index