The Perilous Mix of Populism and Pandemics: Lessons from COVID-19

Touchton, Michael; Knaul, Felícia Marie; McDonald, Timothy; Frenk, Julio

doi:10.3390/socsci12070383

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Despite these findings, decision-making based on long-term planning is unusual in South America, both in general and for PPR ( 26 , 27 ). As a result of post pandemic competing interests and electoral strategies in 2022, policymakers lost focus on evidence-based public health action and did not prioritize pandemic PPR in their countries’ public health agendas for 2023.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing pandemic preparedness, response, and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic in four south American countries: agenda for the future

Ramírez Varela,

Touchton,

Miranda

et al. 2023

Front. Public Health

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IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic emerged in a context that lacked adequate prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR) activities, and global, regional, and national leadership. South American countries were among world’s hardest hit by the pandemic, accounting for 10.1% of total cases and 20.1% of global deaths.MethodsThis study explores how pandemic PPR were affected by political, socioeconomic, and health system contexts as well as how PPR may have shaped pandemic outcomes in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. We then identify lessons learned and advance an agenda for improving PPR capacity at regional and national levels. We do this through a mixed-methods sequential explanatory study in four South American countries based on structured interviews and focus groups with elite policy makers.ResultsThe results of our study demonstrate that structural and contextual barriers limited PPR activities at political, social, and economic levels in each country, as well as through the structure of the health care system. Respondents believe that top-level government officials had insufficient political will for prioritizing pandemic PPR and post-COVID-19 recovery programs within their countries’ health agendas.DiscussionWe recommend a regional COVID-19 task force, post-pandemic recovery, social and economic protection for vulnerable groups, improved primary health care and surveillance systems, risk communication strategies, and community engagement to place pandemic PPR on Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru and other South American countries’ national public health agendas.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing pandemic preparedness, response, and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic in four south American countries: agenda for the future

Ramírez Varela,

Touchton,

Miranda

et al. 2023

Front. Public Health

Self Cite

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“…The outbreak of Coronavirus pandemic provided one major theme to determine populist response to crisis situations (Lasco, 2020; Touchton et al, 2023). Scholarly research also explored the role of populism on the management of emergency crisis and the impact on health (Fernandes, & de lo Lopes Fernandes, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Scholarly research also explored the role of populism on the management of emergency crisis and the impact on health (Fernandes, & de lo Lopes Fernandes, 2022). Perspectives on the perilous mix of populism and lessons from COVID‐19 appeared based on extensive case studies (Touchton et al, 2023). The present research offers a comparative analysis of world's worst‐affected populist‐led governments’ practices in measuring response to COVID‐19 during the pandemic's first phase.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Authoritarian populism and response to COVID‐19: A comparative study of the United States, India, and Brazil

Imran,

Javed

2023

Journal of Public Affairs

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As the phenomenon of populism is in the preliminary stages of exploratory research, the present study involves an empirical investigation involving a case study of the United States, India, and Brazil to examine whether a correlation exists between populism and management of COVID‐19. The study adopts the ideational approach of populism as a set of ideas or discourse to review how core conceptual features of populism have impacted on management of COVID‐19. The study has two main objectives: (1) to examine whether populism in the United States, India, and Brazil has determined “a populist response” to the pandemic in dealing with the health crises and (2) to explore the management of COVID‐19 in the states led by right‐wing populism and the commonality of populist approaches adopted in handling the health crisis. Comparing the three states' statistical data of management models, the study has argued that common populist mechanisms such as distrust for experts, contempt for institutions, and suspicion of “others” have guided the US, India, and Brazilian leadership response to COVID‐19. It further argues that leadership in the United States, India, and Brazil has prevented effective management by politicizing the crisis, aggravating social polarization, and contradicting expert advice. Moreover, populist and nationalist orientation of the leadership has evaded responsibility in these states with the leadership blaming ethnicities for spreading the virus and by weakening societal solidarity.

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Pandemic Communication in Times of Populism: Politicization and the COVID Communication Process in Brazil, Poland, Serbia and the United States

Hallin,

Mihelj,

Klimkiewicz

et al. 2024

Social Science & Medicine

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The Perilous Mix of Populism and Pandemics: Lessons from COVID-19

Cited by 4 publications

References 15 publications

Assessing pandemic preparedness, response, and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic in four south American countries: agenda for the future

Assessing pandemic preparedness, response, and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic in four south American countries: agenda for the future

Authoritarian populism and response to COVID‐19: A comparative study of the United States, India, and Brazil

Pandemic Communication in Times of Populism: Politicization and the COVID Communication Process in Brazil, Poland, Serbia and the United States

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