Survey experiment reveals: Disaster relief mirrors voter fairness preferences

Retrospective Voting Survey Experiments Natural Disasters Political Behavior @PSR&M 1 R file 6 Stata files 3 datasets Dataverse

### How Voters Judge Relief

This study investigates how American citizens evaluate government responses to natural disasters. Using a novel survey experiment, we find voters prioritize fairness based on affectedness and need.

### Key Findings

Relief allocations mirror public preference for distributing aid by affectedness
Need-based distribution aligns strongly with voter assessments
Political ties are less influential in shaping relief preferences

### Policy Implications

These findings challenge existing debates about:

Retrospective voting patterns during crises
The extent to which divide-the-dollar politics reflects public opinion

Article card for article: Retrospection, Fairness, and Economic Shocks: How Do Voters Judge Policy Responses to Natural Disasters?

Retrospection, Fairness, and Economic Shocks: How Do Voters Judge Policy Responses to Natural Disasters? was authored by Michael M. Bechtel and Massimo Mannino. It was published by Cambridge in PSR&M in 2022.