Studies in American Political Development · 2006 · 78 citations · 0 references
Public AffairsPublic AdministrationPublic PolicyAgency TheoryDisaster ResponseEmergency ManagementAgency OrganizationEmergency Management GovernanceEmergency Management PolicyHomeland SecuritySecurity Sector ReformAgency ReorganizationHomeland Security GovernanceReorganization Strategy
After a 1992 reorganization, FEMA transformed from a scandal‑ridden agency into a respected federal body that politicians and the newly formed Department of Homeland Security relied on for credibility and prestige. The reorganization turned FEMA into a model of effective administration, prompting politicians to align with its staff and enabling the agency to retain its name within the Department of Homeland Security.
Following its 1992 reorganization, the once scandal-ridden and sclerotic Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) experienced a dramatic turnaround. The agency morphed from a caricature of the ills of bureaucracy into a model of effective federal administration. Politicians who previously blamed the agency for its slow and inefficient response to disasters came to depend on the agency to lend credibility to their own efforts. After the agency’s reorganization, politicians at all levels of government purposefully appeared beside FEMA workers. As recently as 2002, FEMA’s reputation was so strong that the designers of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) included FEMA in it to lend prestige to the nascent department. Unlike other agencies so included, FEMA was allowed to keep its name, confirming the cachet of its brand.