Learning from Crisis: COVID-19 Agenda and Policy Change and What it Means for a Future Research Agenda

The COVID-19 pandemic and crisis rapidly changed the public and policymaking agendas for governments worldwide. COVID-19 highlighted failures and problems associated with public health preparedness, economic vulnerability, emergency response protocols, and sector-specific issues in healthcare, educa...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Deserai Anderson Crow, Elizabeth A. Albright, Kristin Taylor, Rob DeLeo, Thomas Birkland, Elizabeth Shanahan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: OpenEdition 2024-12-01
Series:International Review of Public Policy
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/irpp/4614
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850130471720058880
author Deserai Anderson Crow
Elizabeth A. Albright
Kristin Taylor
Rob DeLeo
Thomas Birkland
Elizabeth Shanahan
author_facet Deserai Anderson Crow
Elizabeth A. Albright
Kristin Taylor
Rob DeLeo
Thomas Birkland
Elizabeth Shanahan
author_sort Deserai Anderson Crow
collection DOAJ
description The COVID-19 pandemic and crisis rapidly changed the public and policymaking agendas for governments worldwide. COVID-19 highlighted failures and problems associated with public health preparedness, economic vulnerability, emergency response protocols, and sector-specific issues in healthcare, education, and beyond. This increased attention to COVID-19 – and pandemic response broadly – led to significant emergency policy action by governors and public health agencies across U.S. states. We ask whether this uptick in attention resulted in meaningful policy change. This paper constitutes a modest first effort to assess the extent to which the increase in agenda attention resulted in substantive changes to subnational public health institutions, thereby allowing them to better respond to the next pandemic. We specifically focus on U.S. state legislative policymaking because state governments retain the primary constitutional authority for responding to public health crises like COVID-19. Our analysis includes all legislation enacted by state legislatures in 2020 and 2021, building on prior work that examined emergency orders issued in 2020 across states. We aspire not only to track important changes in policy but also to spotlight potentially fruitful research initiatives that spring from our findings.
format Article
id doaj-art-abfeb3a3e761498eaf386a9366e23c50
institution OA Journals
issn 2679-3873
2706-6274
language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher OpenEdition
record_format Article
series International Review of Public Policy
spelling doaj-art-abfeb3a3e761498eaf386a9366e23c502025-08-20T02:32:41ZengOpenEditionInternational Review of Public Policy2679-38732706-62742024-12-01610.4000/13gfvLearning from Crisis: COVID-19 Agenda and Policy Change and What it Means for a Future Research AgendaDeserai Anderson CrowElizabeth A. AlbrightKristin TaylorRob DeLeoThomas BirklandElizabeth ShanahanThe COVID-19 pandemic and crisis rapidly changed the public and policymaking agendas for governments worldwide. COVID-19 highlighted failures and problems associated with public health preparedness, economic vulnerability, emergency response protocols, and sector-specific issues in healthcare, education, and beyond. This increased attention to COVID-19 – and pandemic response broadly – led to significant emergency policy action by governors and public health agencies across U.S. states. We ask whether this uptick in attention resulted in meaningful policy change. This paper constitutes a modest first effort to assess the extent to which the increase in agenda attention resulted in substantive changes to subnational public health institutions, thereby allowing them to better respond to the next pandemic. We specifically focus on U.S. state legislative policymaking because state governments retain the primary constitutional authority for responding to public health crises like COVID-19. Our analysis includes all legislation enacted by state legislatures in 2020 and 2021, building on prior work that examined emergency orders issued in 2020 across states. We aspire not only to track important changes in policy but also to spotlight potentially fruitful research initiatives that spring from our findings.https://journals.openedition.org/irpp/4614policy changeCOVID-19policy learningagenda change
spellingShingle Deserai Anderson Crow
Elizabeth A. Albright
Kristin Taylor
Rob DeLeo
Thomas Birkland
Elizabeth Shanahan
Learning from Crisis: COVID-19 Agenda and Policy Change and What it Means for a Future Research Agenda
International Review of Public Policy
policy change
COVID-19
policy learning
agenda change
title Learning from Crisis: COVID-19 Agenda and Policy Change and What it Means for a Future Research Agenda
title_full Learning from Crisis: COVID-19 Agenda and Policy Change and What it Means for a Future Research Agenda
title_fullStr Learning from Crisis: COVID-19 Agenda and Policy Change and What it Means for a Future Research Agenda
title_full_unstemmed Learning from Crisis: COVID-19 Agenda and Policy Change and What it Means for a Future Research Agenda
title_short Learning from Crisis: COVID-19 Agenda and Policy Change and What it Means for a Future Research Agenda
title_sort learning from crisis covid 19 agenda and policy change and what it means for a future research agenda
topic policy change
COVID-19
policy learning
agenda change
url https://journals.openedition.org/irpp/4614
work_keys_str_mv AT deseraiandersoncrow learningfromcrisiscovid19agendaandpolicychangeandwhatitmeansforafutureresearchagenda
AT elizabethaalbright learningfromcrisiscovid19agendaandpolicychangeandwhatitmeansforafutureresearchagenda
AT kristintaylor learningfromcrisiscovid19agendaandpolicychangeandwhatitmeansforafutureresearchagenda
AT robdeleo learningfromcrisiscovid19agendaandpolicychangeandwhatitmeansforafutureresearchagenda
AT thomasbirkland learningfromcrisiscovid19agendaandpolicychangeandwhatitmeansforafutureresearchagenda
AT elizabethshanahan learningfromcrisiscovid19agendaandpolicychangeandwhatitmeansforafutureresearchagenda