In recent years, Zechmeister has examined public opinion in the wake of natural disasters. Building off surveys conducted following the Chilean and Haitian earthquakes in 2010, Zechmeister explores in a set of papers the effect material damage and loss has on democratic attitudes and interpersonal trust. In a paper coauthored with Ryan Carlin and Gregory Love, she shows disaster victims in Chile often become less tolerant and supportive of democracy while also becoming more civically engaged. In a second paper with Carlin and Love, Zechmeister finds that, contrary to much of the existing scholarship, disaster loss can reduce social capital, but only in low state-capacity environments.