Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-sxzjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T13:57:21.976Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Politics, preparedness, or resources

Examining state responsiveness to the COVID-19 pandemic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 September 2022

Luisa Lucero Open the ORCID record for Luisa Lucero [Opens in a new window] ,
Luisa Diaz-Kope  and
Hadiza Galadima
Luisa Lucero*
Affiliation:
Old Dominion University, USA
Luisa Diaz-Kope
Affiliation:
University of North Georgia, USA
Hadiza Galadima
Affiliation:
Old Dominion University, USA
*
Correspondence: Luisa Lucero, llucero@odu.edu
Get access

Abstract

U.S. states are often the primary decision makers during a public health crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic led to several different reopening processes across states based on their unique characteristics. We analyze whether states’ reopening policy decisions were driven by their public health preparedness, resources, COVID-19 impact, or state politics and political culture. To do so, we summarized state characteristics and compared them across three categories of reopening scores in a bivariate analysis using the chi-square or Fisher exact test for the categorical variables and a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for the continuous variables. A cumulative logit model was used to assess the primary research question. A significant factor in a state’s reopening decision was the party of the governor, regardless of the party in control of the legislature, state political culture, public health preparedness, cumulative number of deaths per 100,000, and Opportunity Index score.

Keywords

COVID-19reopening policyU.S. statesstate decision-making
Type
Research Article
Information
Politics and the Life Sciences , Volume 41 , Issue 2 , Fall 2022 , pp. 276 - 288
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adolph, C., Amano, K., Bang-Jensen, B., Fullman, N., & Wilkerson, J. (2020). Pandemic politics: Timing state-level social distancing responses to COVID-19. Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law, 46(2), 211–233. https://doi:10.1215/03616878-8802162 Google Scholar
Aimone, F. (2010). The 1918 influenza epidemic in New York City: A review of the public health response. Public Health Report, 125(3), 71–79.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Almond, G., & Verba, S. (1980). The civic culture revised: An analytic study. Little, Brown.Google Scholar
Baccini, L., & Brodeur, A. (2021). Explaining governors’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Journal of American Politics Research, 49(2), 215–220.Google Scholar
Berger, L., Berger, N., Bosetti, V., Gilboa, I., Hansen, L. P., Javis, C, Marinacci, M., & Smith, R. (2020). Rational policymaking during a pandemic. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(4), e2012704118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2012704118 Google Scholar
Bootsma, M., & Ferguson, N. (2007). The effect of public health measures on the 1918 influenza pandemic in U.S. cities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(18), 7588–7593.Google ScholarPubMed
Calfas, J. (2020, October 14). Covid-19 cases are rising in more than 40 states. The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-latest-updates-10-14-2020-11602663471 Google Scholar
Cameron, E. E., Nuzzo, J. B., Bell, J. A., Nalabandian, M., O’Brien, J., League, A., Ravi, S., Meyer, D. Snyder, M., Mullen, L., & Warmbrod, L. (2019, October). Global health security index: Building collective actions and accountability. https://www.ghsindex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2019-Global-Health-Security-Index.pdf Google Scholar
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, May). CDC activities and initiatives supporting the COVID-19 response and the president’s plan for opening America up again. https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/88478 Google Scholar
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). How CDC Measures COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/effectiveness/how-cdc-monitors.html Google Scholar
Chamberlain, A. (2013). The (dis)connection between political culture and external efficacy. American Politics Research, 41(5), 761–782.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coleman, J. (2020, April 12). All 50 states under disaster declaration for first time in US history. The Hill. https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/public-global-health/492433-all-50-states-under-disaster-declaration-for-first Google Scholar
Cox, G. W., Kousser, T., & McCubbins, M. D. (2010). Party power or preferences? Quasi-experimental evidence from American state legislatures. The Journal of Politics, 72(3), 799–811.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curley, C., & Federman, P. (2020). State executive orders: Nuance in restrictions, revealing suspensions, and decisions to enforce. Public Administration Review, 80(4), 623–628.Google ScholarPubMed
Dickes, L. A., & Crouch, E. (2015). Policy effectiveness of U.S. governors: The role of gender and changing institutional powers. Women’s Studies International Forum, 53, 90–98.Google Scholar
Donohue, J. M., & Miller, E. (2020, July 29). COVID-19 and school closures. JAMA, 324(9), 845–847.Google ScholarPubMed
Donnelly, R., & Farina, M. P. (2021). How do state policies shape experiences of household income shocks and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic? Social Science & Medicine, 269, 113557. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socsimed.2020.113557 Google ScholarPubMed
Elazar, D. (1972). American federalism: A view from the states. Thomas Y. Crowell.Google Scholar
Ettlinger, M., & Hensley, J. (2020, August 21). Covid-10 economic crisis: By state. University of New Hampshire, Carsey School of Public Policy. https://carsey.unh.edu/COVID-19-Economic-Impact-By-State Google Scholar
Faberman, R. K., Lieberman, D. A., & McKillop, M. (2020). Ready or not: Protecting the public’s health from diseases, disasters, and bioterrorism. Trust for America’s Health. https://www.tfah.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020ReadyOrNotFINAL.pdf Google Scholar
Fisher, P. (2016). Definitely not moralistic: State political culture and support for Donald Trump in the race of 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Political Science & Politics, 49(4), 743–747.Google Scholar
Fowler, J. H., Hill, S. J., Levin, R., & Obradovich, N. (2021). Stay-at-home orders associate with subsequent decrease in COVID-19 cases and fatalities in the United States. PLOS ONE, 16(6), e0248849.Google ScholarPubMed
Frieden, T. R. (2014). Six components necessary for effective public health program implementation. American Journal of Public Health, 104(1), 17–22.Google ScholarPubMed
Friedson, A. I., McNichols, D., Sabia, J. J., & Dave, D. (2020, April). Early coronavirus-related public health effects (Working Paper 26992). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://www.nber.org/papers/w26992#:~:text=This%20study%20is%20the%20first,one%20month%20following%20the%20order Google Scholar
Fuscaro, V. A. (2021). State variation in TANF expenditures: Implications for social work and social policy. Social Work, 66(2), 157–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galva, J., Atchison, C., & Levey, S. (2005). Public health strategy and the police power of the state. Public Health Reports, 120(1), 10–27.Google ScholarPubMed
Gordon, S. H., Huberfield, N., & Jones, D. K. (2020, May 8). What federalism means for the US response to coronavirus disease 2019. JAMA Health Forum, 1(5), e200510.Google ScholarPubMed
Greenblatt, A. (2021, January 12). Political power plays: Tension between the legislative and executive branches escalates. State Legislatures Magazine. https://www.ncsl.org/bookstore/state-legislatures-magazine/tension-between-legislative-and-executive-branches-escalates-magazine2021.aspx Google Scholar
Gusmano, M. K., Miller, E. A., Nadash, P., & Simpson, E. J. (2020). Partisanship in initial state responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. World Medical & Health Policy, 12(4), 380–389.Google Scholar
Haffajee, R. L., & Mello, M. M. (2020). Thinking globally, acting locally—The U.S. response to Covid-19. New England Journal of Medicine, 382(22), e75.Google Scholar
Hanfling, D., Altevogt, B.M., Viswanathan, K., & Gostin, L.O. (2012). Crisis standards of care: A system framework for catastrophic disaster response. National Academies Press.Google Scholar
Hatchett, R., Mecher, C., & Lipsitch, M. (2007). Public health interventions and epidemic intensity during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(18), 7582–7587.Google ScholarPubMed
Institute of Medicine. (1988). The future of public health. National Academies Press.Google Scholar
Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 70 (1905). https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/197/11/ Google Scholar
Jung, J., Manley, J., & Shrestha, V. (2021). Coronavirus infections and deaths by poverty status: The effects of social distancing. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 182, 311–330.Google ScholarPubMed
Kaiser, J. (2020, March 16). Disease experts call for nationwide closure of U.S. schools and businesses to slow coronavirus. Science. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/infectious-disease-experts-call-nationwide-closure-us-schools-and-business-slow Google Scholar
Kaufman, B., Whitaker, R., Lederer, N., Lewis, V., & McClellan, M. (2020, October 6). Comparing associations to state reopening strategies with COVID-19 burden. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 35(12), 2627–2634.Google ScholarPubMed
Kempler, C. (2021, March 11). Link found between state governors’ political parties and COVID-19 case and death rates. Johns Hopkins University. https://hub.jhu.edu/2021/03/11/covid-death-rate-governor-politics/ Google Scholar
Koski, C. (2007). Examining state environmental regulatory policy design. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 50(4), 483–502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koven, S., & Mausolff, C. (2002). The influence of political culture on state budgets: Another look at Elazar’s formulation. American Review of Public Administration, 32(1), 66–77.Google Scholar
Lays, J. (2020, May 11). Coronavirus: How it’s changing state legislatures. State Legislatures Magazine. https://www.ncsl.org/research/health/coronavirus-changing-state-legislatures-magazine2020.aspx Google Scholar
Levi, J., Segal, L.M., Laurent, R., & Lang, A. (2013). Investing in America’s health: A state-by-state look at public health funding and key health facts. Trust for America’s Health. https://www.tfah.org/report-details/investing-in-americas-health-a-state-by-state-look-at-public-health-funding-and-key-health-facts/ Google Scholar
Levitt, L., Schwartz, K., & Lopez, E. (2020, April 7). Estimated cost of treating the uninsured hospitalized with COVID-19. Kaiser Family Foundation. https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/estimated-cost-of-treating-the-uninsured-hospitalized-with-covid-19/ Google Scholar
Markel, H., Lipman, H., & Navarro, A. (2007). Nonpharmaceutical interventions implemented by US cities during the 1918–1919 influenza pandemic. JAMA, 298(6), 644–654. https://doi:10.1001/jama.298.6.44 Google ScholarPubMed
McDermott, K. A. (2003). What causes variation in states’ accountability policies? Peabody Journal of Education, 78(4), 153–176.Google Scholar
Mervosh, S., Lu, D., & Swales, V. (2020, April 20). See which states and cities have told residents to stay at home. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-stay-at-home-order.html Google Scholar
Moreland, A. (2020). Timing of state and territorial COVID-19 stay-at-home orders and changes in population movement-United States, March 1–May 31, 2020. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 69(35), 1198–1203.Google ScholarPubMed
National Conference of State Legislatures. (2019, November 22). Post election 2019 state & Legislative Partisan Composition. https://www.ncsl.org/Portals/1/Documents/Elections/Legis_Control_2019_Post-Election%20Nov%2022nd.pdf Google Scholar
National Institutes of Health. (2007, April 7). Rapid response was crucial to containing the 1918 flu pandemic. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/rapid-response-was-crucial-containing-1918-flu-pandemic Google Scholar
Opportunity Index. (n.d.). Data & scoring. https://opportunityindex.org/methods-sources/ Google Scholar
Owings, W., Kaplan, L., Myran, S., & Doyle, P. (2017). How variation in state policies and practices impact student outcomes: What principals and professors need to know. NASSP Bulletin, 101(4), 299–314.Google Scholar
Sonfield, A., Frost, J. J., Dawson, R., & Lindberg, L. D. (2020, August 3). COVID-19 job losses threaten insurance coverage and access to reproductive health care for millions. Health Affairs. https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20200728.779022/full/ Google Scholar
Stern, A., Cetron, M., & Markey, H. (2010). The 1918–1919 influenza pandemic in the United States: Lessons learned and challenges exposed. Public Health Reports, 125(3), 6–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Trust for America’s Health. (2020). Ready or not 2020: Protecting the public’s health from diseases, disasters and bioterrorism. https://www.tfah.org/report-details/readyornot2020/ Google Scholar
Thompson, D. (2020, May 8). It’s the pandemic, stupid. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/highest-unemployment-rate-great-depression/611398/ Google Scholar
Washington Post . (2020). Where states reopened and cases spiked after the U.S. shutdown. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/national/states-reopening-coronavirus-map/ Google Scholar
Weaver, R. K., & Gais, T. (2002, April 2). State policy choices under welfare reform. Brookings Institute. https://www.brookings.edu/research/state-policy-choices-under-welfare-reform/ Google Scholar
Wee, S., McNiel, D., & Hernandez, J. (2020, January 30). W.H.O. Declares Global Emergency as Wuhan Coronavirus Spreads. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/30/health/coronavirus-world-health-organization.html Google Scholar
White House & Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). Guidelines: Opening up American again. https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Guidelines-for-Opening-Up-America-Again.pdf Google Scholar
Wildavsky, A. (1985). A culture theory of expenditure growth and (un)balanced budgets. Journal of Public Economics, 28(3), 349–357.Google Scholar