The Third and Fatal Shock: How Pandemic Killed the Millennial Paradigm

Abstract

This millennium began with widespread acceptance of a governing paradigm emphasizing small government, free markets, and open borders. Three crises—the 9/11 attacks, the 2008 financial crisis, and the 2020 COVID‐19 pandemic—forced American policy makers to diverge from this paradigm. At the time, these divergences were described as temporary departures from normalcy. In retrospect, it would be more accurate to regard the millennial paradigm itself as the abnormality: a model of governance designed for rare moments of calm. In the last two decades, a different paradigm has emerged. American government has become the ultimate bearer of societal risks. Repeatedly, it has adopted extraordinary measures to protect public safety and the economy. However, the American state lacks the capacity to anticipate and manage these massive risks competently. New capabilities are required, along with a new mentality about governing. Domestic politics will complicate the task of building these capabilities.

Social Vulnerability and Equity: The Disproportionate Impact of COVID‐19

“…COVID‐19 emerged of unknown origin in the last quarter of 2019, first gaining global attention from an outbreak of respiratory illness in Wuhan, China (Hui et al 2020; Roberts 2020). The virus had reached pandemic levels by March 2020, with countries around the world implementing various forms of public health measures designed to reduce the rate of infection (Adhanom Ghebreyesus 2020).…”

Global Reflection, Conceptual Exploration, and Evidentiary Assimilation: COVID‐19 Viewpoint Symposium Introduction

“…From a policy perspective, closely intertwined with leadership capabilities and ideologies, this pandemic is a punctuation that will manifest through a shift in popular attitudes toward policies at all levels (Roberts 2020). Drastic policy change has already been implemented in immigration, education, healthcare, transportation, economic development, agriculture/food production, elections, and others.…”

“…Thanks to the pandemic shock, Roberts (2020) explains what he calls the millennial paradigm that, in his argument, will collapse. He, too, details some of the elements of federalism that might not remain after the pandemic punctuation.…”

“…Similar to Roberts (2020), Moon (2020) takes a big‐picture approach to understanding the changes to governance practices as a result of the pandemic. Using South Korea as a case study, Moon argues that an agile‐adaptive approach might be a path forward for responding to crises.…”

“…Comfort et al (2020) use a networked approach to examine their cross‐cultural response, and Grizzle, Goodin, and Robinson (2020) also detail the challenges with building and maintaining strong networks that can respond to system shocks such as the pandemic (Roberts 2020). Using the City of Norman, Oklahoma as a case study, Grizzle, Goodin, and Robinson (2020) detail ways in which strong networks are built and how well those efforts fared during the COVID‐19 response.…”