Government Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic : Between a Rock and a Hard Place

This book examines how governments around the world responded to the health emergency created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Before vaccines became available, non-medical interventions were the main means to protect the public. Non-medical interventions were put in place by governments as public health policies. In every nation, politicians and governments faced a choice situation, and worldwide, they made different choices. Public health policies came at a price, in economic, social, and ultimately electoral costs to the political incumbents. The book discusses differences in governments’ policy efforts to mitigate the virus spread. The authors conduct in-depth analysis of country-cases from Africa, North and South America, Asia, and Europe. They also offer small-n- comparative analyses as well as report global patterns and trends of governments’ responsiveness to the medical emergency. It will appeal to all those interested in public policy, health policy and governance. Contents Notes on Contributors List of Figures List of Tables Chapter 1: What the World has Learned About Their Governments During the COVID-19 Pandemic 1.1 Introduction 1.2 This volume 1.3 Protective Public Health Policy Index (PPI) 1.4 An early glimpse at the global variation in policy responses References Chapter 2: The Institutional Underpinnings of Policymaking in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Europe 2.1 Introduction 2.2 The Classic Model of Coalition Policymaking and Why It Does Not Work in Times of Crisis 2.3 Theoretical Argument 2.4 Case Selection 2.5 Spain and Italy 2.6 Italy 2.7 Spain 2.8 Denmark and Finland 2.9 Finland 2.10 Denmark 2.11 Discussion References Chapter 3: An Analysis of Government Responses to COVID-19 in Latin America’s Three Federations 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Comparing PPI at the National and Subnational Levels 3.3 Argentina’s Federal-Led Response to COVID-19 3.3.1 The Political Economy of Pandemic Policymaking 3.3.2 Argentina’s Governing Parties 3.3.3 Healthcare Policymaking 3.3.4 Summary 3.4 COVID-19 in Brazil: A State-Led Response 3.4.1 The Political Economy of Brazil’s Response to COVID-19 3.4.2 Party Politics and Brazil’s COVID-19 Response 3.4.3 State-Level Responses 3.4.4 Summary 3.5 The Combined Federal-State Response to COVID-19 in Mexico 3.5.1 The Political Economy of Mexico’s Response to COVID-19 3.5.2 Party Politics and Mexico’s COVID-19 Response 3.5.3 Healthcare Policymaking 3.5.4 State-Level Responses 3.6 Conclusion References Chapter 4: COVID-19 Response in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh: Shared History, Different Processes 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Two Dimensions of Public Health Response 4.3 Setting the Stage 4.3.1 Political System 4.3.2 Healthcare System Administration 4.3.3 Epidemic Response Powers 4.3.4 Disaster Management Regulations 4.4 COVID-19 Policy Response in 2020 4.4.1 Overview 4.4.2 Phase I in India 4.4.3 Phase I in Pakistan 4.4.4 Phase I in Bangladesh 4.4.5 Phase II (Lockdowns) 4.4.6 Phase III (exit from broad lockdowns and cluster containment) 4.4.7 How Formal Powers Were Used during the Pandemic 4.5 Looking for the Antecedent of COVID-19 Responses in History 4.5.1 Historicizing the Pandemic Response 4.5.2 British India 4.5.3 Public Health in the British Raj 4.5.4 Public Health Federalism 4.6 Making Sense of the Pandemic Response in South Asia References Chapter 5: Center-Regional Political Risk Sharing in the COVID-19 Public Health Crisis: Nigeria and South Africa 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Overview of Nigerian Politics and Its Impact on COVID-19 Policies 5.2.1 The Politics of Nigeria 5.2.2 The Covid-19 Pandemic in Nigeria 5.3 South Africa 5.3.1 The Politics of South Africa 5.3.2 The Covid-19 Pandemic in South Africa 5.4 Discussion and Concluding Remarks References Chapter 6: Pick Your Poison: Political Expediencies, Economic Necessities, and COVID-19 Response in Malaysia and Indonesia 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Political and Economic Conditions in Malaysia 6.2.1 Malaysia’s Cabinet Fragility 6.2.2 Binding Economic Constraints on Policy Adoption 6.3 Malaysia’s COVID-19 Response 6.4 Political and Economic Conditions in Indonesia 6.5 Indonesia’s COVID-19 Response 6.6 Conclusion References Chapter 7: Populist Responses to COVID-19: Turkey and Israel as Cases of Proscience Populism and the United States and Brazil as Examples of Science-Skeptic Populism 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Populist Responses to the Pandemic: Proscience Populism and Science-Skeptic Populism 7.2.1 What Their Constituency Expects Determines Populists’ Responses 7.2.2 Erdogan and Netanyahu: Reformed Radicals Making Their Careers in the Center 7.3 Protective Policy Index Measure and Findings 7.4 The Case of Israel: Disproportionate Measures in a “National Security” Crisis 7.5 The Case of Turkey: Economic Vulnerability and Underreaction in Protective Policies 7.6 Brazil and the United States as Examples of Science-Skeptic Populism 7.7 Conclusion References Chapter 8: The Visegrad Populist Leaders’ Responses to COVID-19 Pandemic 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Theory: What Enabled the V4’s Quick and Strong NMI Policies? 8.2.1 Institutions I: Strong Executive Capacity and Autonomy 8.2.2 Institutions II: Public Health Orientation Toward Effective Epidemic Management 8.2.3 Popular Support: High Level of Public Confidence and Rosy Economic Forecast 8.3 Narrative I: How Did the V4 Accomplish Relative Success in Spring? 8.3.1 Institutions I: Executive Aggrandizement and State of Emergency 8.3.2 Institutions II: Public Health Orientation and Tentative Proscience Attitudes 8.3.3 Popular Support: High Level of Public Confidence and Promising Economic Outlook 8.4 Narrative II: Why Did the V4 End Up Failing to Replicate the Success in the Fall? 8.4.1 Escalation of Electoral Costs: Falling Public Confidence and Bad Economic Outlook 8.4.2 Ignored Science and Low Quality of Health Care 8.5 Conclusion and Discussion References Chapter 9: Common Law Systems and COVID-19 Policy Response: Protective Public Health Policy in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia 9.1 Introduction 9.2 National Courts of Last Resort in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia 9.3 Political Parties and Courts of Last Resort in the Settler British Commonwealth Countries 9.4 Mapping Partisanship and Ideology on Courts of Last Resort 9.5 Courts of Last Resort During Crisis: Low Information and High Uncertainty 9.6 Analysis of Decision-Making by National Courts of Last Resort in Crisis 9.6.1 United States of America 9.6.2 Canada 9.6.3 New Zealand 9.6.4 Australia 9.7 Discussion and Conclusion References Chapter 10: Commonalities and Differences in Governments’ COVID-19 Public Health Responses Around the World 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Political Institutions and Pandemic Decision-Making 10.2.1 Decentralization and Federalism 10.2.2 Separation of Power 10.2.3 Democracies and Autocracies 10.3 Political Parties and Party Systems 10.3.1 Party Systems 10.3.2 Did Populism Impede Pandemic Response? 10.4 Economic Constraints 10.5 Access to Healthcare and the Substitution Effect Between NMIs and Healthcare 10.6 Conclusion References Appendix A: Protective Policy Index (PPI) Policy Categories and Assigned Weights (Tables A.1 and A.2) Appendix B: Power Sharing and Stringency of Nonmedical Interventions (NMIs) (Figs. B.1, B.2, B.3, and B.4) Index