Under Pressure: Social Capital and Trust in Government After Natural Disasters

In response to the increasing threats posed by natural hazards, both disaster managers and researchers have recognized social networks and trust between communities and government as fundamental building blocks for resilience. However, these efforts often overlook the fact that the same network ties to family and friends that can help households weather a storm may also extend households’ exposure through collective trauma, reshaping their trust in and perceptions of government. Utilizing two restricted-access data sets gathered in Houston, Texas, following Hurricane Harvey, this study investigates the frequency with which households experienced a direct and/or close-tie impact and how such impacts affect households’ trust in local, state, and federal government. Results indicate that households experience close-tie impacts pervasively and that experiencing a close-tie impact is significantly correlated with lower trust in government at all levels, net of experiencing a direct impact and other statistical controls. Implications for a more nuanced approach to social capital and trust in disaster mitigation and research are discussed.