Institutional Redefinition of Risk : The case of civil security systems in the three Central European countries
Abstract
The changing nature of risks is acknowledged (Lagadec 2008) making risk management a challenging task. One of the most powerful tools of risk management is the national civil security system.
This can be understood as institutionalized methods of coping with bundles of risks. They often fail (as the Katrina hurricane cases shows).
At the same time they constitute a specialized institution to deal with risk. Adjustment of civil security to the changing nature of risks is inevitable.
Moreover, current environmental changes may invite a wider range of catastrophic events (floods, extreme temperatures, etc.). Understanding the (mis)adaptation of the civil security system is thus crucial.
In the paper, it is investigated how the civil security systems of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland have been changing in order to cope with risks more effectively and efficiently. The reference point is the communist past of the countries, when civil security was closely related to military threats.
After 1990, the year of the collapse of the communism the systems were transformed. Firstly, attention is put on the definition and the scope of the risks covered by the civil security systems and how it changed.
Secondly, the role of crises will be examined in the efforts to reform the systems. The article builds largely on Thomas Birkland’s (2006) model of “event-related policy change”.
Using the OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database, key “focusing events” are identified. The article examines whether these focusing events led to an alteration of extant policies to mitigate risks more effectively, discussing the effects at the instrumental (improving policy instruments), political (policy initiatives) and social (understanding of risks) level of learning.
To achieve this goal, interviews with practitioners from the V4 countries are conducted together with the study of respective legislature and policy documents.