Date

5-20-2026

Department

Helms School of Government

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Public Administration (PhD)

Chair

Lona D. Bryan

Keywords

9/11, Hurricane Katrina, COVID-19, federalism, national disaster

Disciplines

Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration

Abstract

The purpose of this collective case study is to understand federalism in the United States of America today. This study uses the impact of federalism in the United States on national disasters as a means to understand federalism in the U.S. The theory guiding this study is general systems theory, as presented by Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1968), as it provides a framework for understanding how systems work and the foundation upon which this collective case study can determine how federalism operates in the current-day U.S. The central question for this study is: What has been the impact of federalism on national disasters in the U.S.? This qualitative collective case study uses semi-structured interviews, document analysis, and artifact analysis to collect data on the national disasters of 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the COVID-19 pandemic to assess the extent to which federalism impacted these disasters in the U.S. The sample for this study consists of current and former emergency managers at the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Washington, DC. The data analysis consists of coding the notes from each form of data collection and identifying recurring themes. All themes identified are in concert with the focus of this study. This study finds that federalism's impact on disasters is neither inherently positive nor negative but rather contingent on the quality of factors such as institutional structure, intergovernmental communication, financial oversight, proactive planning, and the negotiation of shared responsibility between the national and state governments. This study recommends action by the national government to address identified deficiencies before the next national disaster.

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