The Politics of Denying Aid: An Analysis of Disaster Declaration Turndowns

Federal disaster aid provides resources to affected victims and potential votes for both governors and presidents, but the denial of aid can especially painful for all parties involved. This paper examines whether political factors contribute to which areas are denied federal disaster aid. Analyzing county-level data from 1992 through 2005, I find that political factors do shade a president’s decision to deny aid, but that some of these factors are only present during presidential elections years