ABSTRACT
This chapter presents interim findings of the Comparative Covid Response (CompCoRe) study, a qualitative comparison of policy responses to COVID-19 in 16 countries begun in April 2020 <https://compcore.cornell.edu/" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">https://compcore.cornell.edu/>. To contain the virus, governments around the world enacted extraordinary limits on personal freedom and economic activity. National policies and outcomes varied dramatically. Some countries achieved a coherent response and significant degree of control in the arenas of health, economics and politics. Others achieved public consensus on how to proceed, but with mixed results. Still others experienced policy chaos, with extensive conflict in all three arenas. The virus seemed to target structural weaknesses in health, economic and political systems, revealing tacit assumptions about science and public reason that guide governance in different countries. These assumptions typically are not formally codified, but they are a crucial part of the constitutional orders of contemporary societies and deeply shape relationships between the state, scientific experts and citizens.
