In evolving democracies, top-down approaches to response and recovery in disaster governance remain predominant. Taking the case of Nepal, this research explains how Nepal’s disaster governance has been accentuating different degrees of monocentric and polycentric configurations post-2015. Polycentricity is defined as a governance configuration where a combination of small, medium, and large-scale autonomous units coexists that are interdependent in making rules, developing policies, and implementing them within a specified scale of governance. Based on confidential interviews (n = 23) and policy documents (n = 48) analysis, the study shows how disaster governance has been taking shape in Nepal, after the 2015 earthquake and with the ongoing federalisation process. This research found that in Nepal, there is a polycentric configuration at and across the national and provincial levels, whilst higher degrees of monocentric characteristics are still prominent at the municipal level. Further, our findings suggest subtle conflicts (or conflicts of interest) between the newly elected municipal representatives and the existing bureaucracy. Such tensions have arisen due to the drive and enthusiasm of the political leaders to bring transformative changes at the municipal level in quick succession. The article concludes that polycentric governance configurations in Nepal are rather becoming complex—complementing and inciting competition between various actors.

在不断发展的民主国家中，自上而下的灾害治理应对和恢复方法仍然占主导地位。本研究以尼泊尔为例，解释了2015年后尼泊尔的灾害治理如何不同程度地强调单中心和多中心配置。多中心被定义为一种治理结构，其中小型、中型和大型自治单位的组合并存，这些自治单位在规定的治理规模内相互依存地制定规则、制定政策并实施这些政策。该研究基于机密访谈 (n = 23) 和政策文件 (n = 48) 分析，展示了 2015 年地震之后以及正在进行的联邦化进程中尼泊尔的灾害治理是如何形成的。研究发现，在尼泊尔，国家和省级层面存在多中心结构，而市级层面的单中心特征仍然较为突出。此外，我们的研究结果表明，新当选的市政代表与现有官僚机构之间​​存在微妙的冲突（或利益冲突）。这种紧张局势的出现是由于政治领导人连续迅速在市级层面带来变革的动力和热情。文章的结论是，尼泊尔的多中心治理结构正变得相当复杂——相互补充并引发不同参与者之间的竞争。