The distribution of decisional power and ability of local communities to participate in natural hazard risk governance (NHRG) are critical success factors for sustainable development. This article assesses the evolution of power distribution and participation at the local level in NHRG using bibliometric and international discourse analysis. The results show that participationrelated concepts are underrepresented in NHRG, compared to environmental resource management and community & livelihood development fields of research. This implies the existence of societal/community barriers that impede the development of a sustainable paradigm in NHRG. In addition, when present, participation is mostly passive (nondecisional), a finding also observed in the representation of these concepts in the international discourse of United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR). For sustainable NHRG, it is necessary to have explicit targets of authentic and long-term support for active community involvement with a planned share of power. This prescription is supported by unequivocal references in the recent (2010-2011) international discourse of UNISDR.

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