Relationship between political participation and community resilience in the disaster risk process: A systematic review

Abstract

This article presents the results of a systematic review of the evidence on the relationship between political participation and community resilience in the face of disasters. The study aimed to understand the contribution of political participation to the resilience of communities exposed to disasters or disaster risks. The review included research reports conducted with communities exposed to disasters or disaster risks that presented results on political participation and community resilience variables. Studies presenting individual or family resilience results and theoretical articles or literature reviews were excluded. The search for studies was conducted in Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, PubMed, EBSCO, Dialnet, Scielo, and in repositories of international organizations dedicated to disaster risk management; the databases were reviewed between April and August 2023, and studies published between 2013 and 2023 were included. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) standardized checklists were used to critically appraise included studies. Data extraction and coding were done using a guide specifying relevant information according to the review's objectives, such as types of participation and the extent of participation according to Arnstein's Ladder. Data synthesis was done following the convergent integrated design, which is part of the mixed methods systematic reviews. A data transformation process was conducted that converted quantitative data into qualitative data, and using the meta-aggregation technique; categories were created based on the similarity in the meaning of the data. Upon reviewing the 22 research articles that met all inclusion criteria, it was found that political participation promotes community resilience to disasters by contributing to the quality and transparency of post-disaster reconstruction projects, enhancing trust and satisfaction with these projects, and fostering community autonomy in disaster risk management programs. However, despite its contribution to resilience, participation is often limited by multiple barriers that reduce its influence on disaster risk management projects. Studies emphasizing the political nature of participation in community resilience to disasters remain scarce and only sometimes account for the community's impact on decision-making and the distribution of power and public goods. It is concluded that political participation is recognized as a facilitator of community resilience, especially when it constitutes civic power. The study protocol was registered in PROSPERO on April 18, 2023, with the code CRD42023415350, and is available at https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42023415350.