The policy decision-making process in the aftermath of a crisis is a dynamic and iterative process involving circumstances that are emotionally convoluted rather than stable and rationally predictable. This research addresses the following question: To what extent do citizens’ fears and their perceptions of governmental responsiveness affect citizens’ confidence in the government’s disaster management capacity? By building a structural equation model, we also analyze the dual mediating effects of collective action by citizens. We find that citizens’ collective action mediates the effects of both these factors—citizen fear levels and governmental responsiveness—on citizens’ confidence in the government’s disaster management capacity. We test our hypotheses, using the 2014 Sewol Ferry accident case in South Korea, a striking disaster caused by human error resulting in the loss of 304 lives. This analysis offers practical lessons for governments on how best to engage citizens’ voices in the policy-making process. When citizens feel listened to and empathized with by their government, they become more supportive of the government’s recovery efforts. Collective action by citizens plays a critical role in channeling citizens’ feelings and communicating their feelings and opinions to the government while decreasing their fear level, which, in turn, increases citizens’ confidence in the government’s disaster management capacity.

危机后的政策决策过程是一个动态的、反复的过程，涉及的情况在情感上是错综复杂的，而不是稳定和理性可预测的。本研究解决了以下问题：公民的恐惧和他们对政府响应能力的看法在多大程度上影响了公民对政府灾害管理能力的信心？通过构建结构方程模型，我们还分析了公民集体行动的双重中介效应。我们发现，公民的集体行动在公民对政府灾害管理能力的信心上调节了公民恐惧程度和政府响应这两个因素的影响。我们使用 2014 年韩国 Sewol Ferry 事故案例来检验我们的假设，一场由人为失误造成的惊人灾难，导致 304 人丧生。该分析为政府提供了关于如何最好地让公民的声音参与决策过程的实践经验。当公民感受到政府的倾听和同情时，他们会更加支持政府的恢复工作。公民的集体行动在引导公民的感受、向政府传达他们的感受和意见、同时降低他们的恐惧程度方面发挥着关键作用，这反过来又增加了公民对政府灾害管理能力的信心。他们更加支持政府的复苏努力。公民的集体行动在引导公民的感受、向政府传达他们的感受和意见、同时降低他们的恐惧程度方面发挥着关键作用，这反过来又增加了公民对政府灾害管理能力的信心。他们更加支持政府的复苏努力。公民的集体行动在引导公民的感受、向政府传达他们的感受和意见、同时降低他们的恐惧程度方面发挥着关键作用，这反过来又增加了公民对政府灾害管理能力的信心。