Will Democracy Save us in COVID-19 Crisis?

The Big Question:

In COVID-19, humans confront an immediate threat unlike any that existed in the lives of several generations. It is not created by us, it is sudden, and it affects everyone and impacts globally. Are our political institutions up for the task of managing this and any possible future similar threats? When societies need to quickly and decisively respond in order to protect us, which types of governments are best suited to provide the necessary response?

Our focus is the role of democratic institutions generally, and among democracies -- of the institutions of federalism in particular, in effecting policy responses during crises. How does regime and institutional variation translate in policy responses -- their speed and strength? Will democracy save us during the COVID-19 crisis through the creativity of its many policy leaders or doom us due to not posessing enough control over every aspect of its citizens existense? State adopted COVID-19 Public Health Policies, by date

We approach these questions through mathematical models and data analysis. Our team is building the global data set as COVID policy-making is ongoing. Groups of researchers within the lab share special focus on areas of the globe, pursuing lines of inquiry in the United States, European Union, controlled comparisons across groups of nations, and studies that isolate specific policy areas. 

Global Data Set

Who We Are: 

Members and affiliates of our Lab are faculty, post-doctoraal researchers, and doctoral students in social sciences, health sciences, and computer science from multiple academic institutions worldwide. Our base of operations is in Binghamton University, which is a Research Center of the State University of New York in the US -- the State that was hit the hardest by the COVID-19 outbreak.