Browsing by Author "Weible, Christopher M."

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Capturing Structural and Functional Diversity Through Institutional Analysis: The Mayor Position in City Charters
    (Springer, 2014-11) Feiock, Richard C.; Weible, Christopher M.; Carter, David P.; Curley, Cali; Deslatte, Aaron; Heikkila, Tanya; School of Public and Environmental Affairs
    City charters affect the governance of municipal systems in complex ways. Current descriptions and typologies developed to study city charter structures simplify the diverse types and configurations of institutional rules underlying charter designs. This research note demonstrates a more detailed approach for studying the design of city charters using analytical methods based on the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework. This approach is illustrated with a pilot study of institutional rules in municipal charters that define the roles and duties of mayors. The findings reveal that city charters exhibit great institutional diversity, particularly within strong mayor cities. We conclude with a research agenda that could generate a more precise and rigorous understanding of the relationship between the different configurations of institutions of city charters and the politics, governance, and performance of municipalities.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Obstacles and disaster risk reduction: Survey of Memphis organizations
    (http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)NH.1527-6996.0000016, 2010-08) Sadiq, Abdul-Akeem; Weible, Christopher M.
    The disaster management literature is replete with surveys at the community and household levels. However, few exist at the organizational level. This study attempts to fill this void by examining the effect of organizational obstacles on disaster risk reduction. The data come from a survey of 227 organizations in Memphis, Tennessee. This study investigates three obstacles to disaster risk reduction: lack of organizational support, lack of information, and lack of financial resources. The findings show that organizations are more likely to engage in low-effort activities indirectly related to risk reduction and are less likely to engage in high-effort activities directly related to risk reduction. The most important obstacle is lack of information about the frequency of disasters, magnitude of disasters, or organizational benefits of reducing disaster risks. Lack of financial resources and lack of organizational support are sometimes positively associated with risk-reducing activities, suggesting that, when organizations engage in risk-reducing activities, some obstacles become more apparent. The study concludes with implications, limitations, and future research strategies.