The Evolution of Risk in Public Policy. Case study: The National Policy on Disaster Risk Management in Peru

Abstract

The recurrence of the emergency situations that follow natural disasters in Peru suggests that the problem goes beyond disaster management. The crisis caused by the earthquake with its epicenter in Pisco in 2007, requires questioning the effectiveness and sustainability of the actions taken, notably the adoption of the National Policy on Disaster Risk Management. The study object is constructed from interactions between risk, public action and territory. The central hypothesis considers that the evolution of risk management policies is the result of two parallel processes: on one hand the way risk is represented and managed and, on the other, the dynamics of public action in the territory. Concerning the study case chosen, this research aims to understand how the physical, political, social and institutional context that corresponds to a crisis scenario can become an "opportunity window" able to allow changes on public policy regarding risk management and, specially, the required conditions for such evolution could be sustainable.