Catastrophic Politics

Lonna Rae Atkeson is Professor and Regents Lecturer of Political Science at the University of New Mexico. She is also the Director of the Center for the Study of Voting, Elections and Democracy at the University of New Mexico. Cherie D. Maestas is Associate Professor of Political Science and an affiliate of the Center for the Study of Democratic Performance at Florida State University.

• 1. Extraordinary events and public opinion; 2. A theoretical framework for systematically examining extraordinary events; 3. The media message environment and the emotional context of Hurricane Katrina; 4. Affective attributions: assigning blame during extraordinary times; 5. Federalism in a multiple message environment: are the appropriate leaders held accountable?; 6. Attributions of blame, political efficiency, and confidence in government; 7. Attributions, emotions, and policy consequences; 8. Extraordinary events and public opinion: some broader perspectives.

'Hurricane Katrina shocked the world. Atkeson and Maestas study how Hurricane Katrina changed American politics, and develop a framework that scholars will use to understand the political consequences of future extraordinary events. This is a fantastic book!' R. Michael Alvarez, California Institute of Technology