VTPEH 6131 - Disaster Policy and Politics

Spring. 3 credits. Letter grades only (no audit).

C. Willison.

This course helps students understand various political institutions, and how they influence disaster response and resilience. Policy requires politics: behind every positive or negative decision governments make, there are elected politicians, politically skilled officials, journalists, and other stakeholders. Understanding the world of politics is crucial to influencing and implementing policies- or even to understand the landscape in which any public health organization must operate. These political challenges are magnified during times of disasters, with new opportunities for competing incentives and things to go wrong. Understanding, engaging with and developing crucial strategic factors in public health emergency management requires navigating policy processes and political institutions.