Pandemic Policymaking in Presidential Federations

Explaining Subnational Responses to Covid-19 in Brazil, Mexico, and the United States

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7364063
AutoresCyril Bennouna (0000-0002-8449-0283, Brown University), Agustina Giraudy (0000-0002-8405-2195, American University), Eduardo Moncada (0000-0001-7874-7049, Barnard College, Columbia University), Eva Isabel Sanjurjo Ríos, Eva Rios (Brown University), Richard Snyder (0000-0003-4705-3655, Brown University, autor de correspondencia), Paul Testa (0000-0001-9111-3796, Brown University)
Año2021
Volumen51
Número4
Páginas570-600
Fecha de publicación2021-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPublius The Journal of Federalism (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0048-5950 • E-ISSN: 1747-7107
EditorialOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/publius/pjab025
OpenAlexW3194824530
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas26
Referencias citadas40

Why do COVID-19 social distancing policies vary so widely across states in federal countries? This mixed-methods study of Brazil, Mexico, and the United States finds that state-level variation in the stringency of social distancing policies is driven not by the epidemiological, demographic, or socioeconomic factors commonly emphasized in previous research, but largely by political factors. Introducing a novel framework for explaining pandemic policymaking, the study shows the central importance of political parties, presidential power, and governors’ coalitions in determining state-level policy stringency. In the United States and Mexico, statistical and qualitative evidence indicates that interstate collaboration among governors, combined with top-down pressures from national party elites and presidents, led to greater policy alignment among coordinated states. In Brazil, in contrast, where there is little evidence of either policy coordination or alignment, state-level policies resulted instead from intrastate factors and diffusion. Together, these findings highlight how a multilevel framework attuned to varied combinations of intra-unit, cross-unit, and cross-level causal factors strengthens our understanding of pandemic policymaking

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Development economics · Disease · Economics · Pandemic · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Presidential system · Social distance · Socioeconomic status · Sociology · State (computer science · Unit (ring theory · Policy Transfer and Learning · Politics and Society in Latin America · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Demography