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. 2020 Dec 1;46(4):565-584.
doi: 10.3138/cpp.2020-101.

COVID-19 Policy Response and the Rise of the Sub-National Governments

Abdul Basit Adeel  1 , Michael Catalano  1 , Olivia Catalano  2 , Grant Gibson  3 , Ezgi Muftuoglu  1 , Tara Riggs  1 , Mehmet Halit Sezgin  1 , Olga Shvetsova  1 , Naveed Tahir  4 , Julie VanDusky-Allen  5 , Tianyi Zhao  1 , Andrei Zhirnov  6
Affiliations

COVID-19 Policy Response and the Rise of the Sub-National Governments

Abdul Basit Adeel et al. Can Public Policy. .

Abstract
in English, French

We examine the roles of sub-national and national governments in Canada and the United States vis-à-vis the protective public health response in the onset phase of the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This period was characterized in both countries by incomplete information as well as by uncertainty regarding which level of government should be responsible for which policies. The crisis represents an opportunity to study how national and sub-national governments respond to such policy challenges. In this article, we present a unique dataset that catalogues the policy responses of US states and Canadian provinces as well as those of the respective federal governments: the Protective Policy Index (PPI). We then compare the United States and Canada along several dimensions, including the absolute values of sub-national levels of the index relative to the total protections enjoyed by citizens, the relationship between early threat (as measured by the mortality rate near the start of the public health crisis) and the evolution of the PPI, and finally the institutional and legislative origins of the protective health policies. We find that the sub-national contribution to policy is more important for both the United States and Canada than are their national-level policies, and it is unrelated in scope to our early threat measure. We also show that the institutional origin of the policies as evidenced by the COVID-19 response differs greatly between the two countries and has implications for the evolution of federalism in each.

Nous examinons le rôle des gouvernements infranationaux et nationaux du Canada et des États-Unis dans l’adoption de mesures de protection de la santé publique au stade initial de la pandémie mondiale de COVID‑19. Cette période a été caractérisée dans les deux pays par des informations incomplètes ainsi que par une incertitude quant à l’ordre de gouvernement responsable de telle ou telle politique. La crise offre l’occasion d’étudier comment les gouvernements nationaux et infranationaux relèvent ces défis politiques. Dans l’article qui suit, nous présentons un ensemble de données unique qui répertorie les décisions politiques des États américains et des provinces canadiennes en matière de protection, ainsi que celles des gouvernements fédéraux respectifs : l’indice de politique de protection (IPP). Nous comparons ensuite les États-Unis et le Canada selon plusieurs dimensions, notamment les valeurs absolues des niveaux infranationaux de l’IPP par rapport aux protections totales dont bénéficient les citoyens, la relation entre la « menace précoce » (mesurée selon les taux de mortalité à l’approche du début de la crise de santé publique) et l’évolution de l’IPP et, enfin, les origines institutionnelles–législatives des politiques de protection de la santé. Nous constatons que la contribution infranationale à la politique est plus importante pour les deux pays mais qu’elle n’est pas liée à notre mesure de la « menace précoce ». Nous démontrons également que l’origine institutionnelle des politiques diffère grandement entre les deux pays et que cela a des répercussions sur l’évolution du fédéralisme.

Keywords: COVID-19; Canada; USA; federalism; policy response; provinces; public health; states.

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Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
Comparison of Protection from State-Only and Federal-Only Protective Policy Index, United States
Figure 2:
Figure 2:
Comparison of Protection from Province-Only and Federal-Only Protective Policy Index, Canada
Figure 3:
Figure 3:
Cumulative PPI Rankings: (a) US States and (b) Canadian Provinces
Figure 4:
Figure 4:
COVID-19 Mortality Rates by (a) State and Province as of 22 March 2020, (b) Comparison of State PPI, and (c) Provincial PPI over Time
Figure 4:
Figure 4:
COVID-19 Mortality Rates by (a) State and Province as of 22 March 2020, (b) Comparison of State PPI, and (c) Provincial PPI over Time
Figure 4:
Figure 4:
COVID-19 Mortality Rates by (a) State and Province as of 22 March 2020, (b) Comparison of State PPI, and (c) Provincial PPI over Time
Figure 5:
Figure 5:
Cumulative PPI and Initial Threat Levels: (a) US States and (b) Canadian Provinces
Figure 6:
Figure 6:
Public Health COVID-19 Policies by Initiating Actor: (a) US States and (b) Canadian Provinces
Figure A.1:
Figure A.1:
Federal, Sub-National, and Total PPI in Canada
Figure A.2:
Figure A.2:
Federal, Sub-National, and Total PPI in the United States
Figure A.2:
Figure A.2:
Federal, Sub-National, and Total PPI in the United States
Figure A.2:
Figure A.2:
Federal, Sub-National, and Total PPI in the United States
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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