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Explaining governors’ response to the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States

What is the response of US governors to the Covid-19 pandemic? In this research note, we explore the determinants of implementing stay-at-home orders, focusing on governors’ characteristics. In our most conservative estimate, being a Democratic governor increases the probability of implementing a stay-at-home order by more than 50 percent. Moreover, we find that the probability of implementing a statewide stay-at-home order is about 40 percent more likely for governors without a term limit than governors with a term limit. We also find that Democratic governors and governors without a term limit are significantly faster to adopt state-wide orders than Republican governors and governors with a term limit. There is evidence of politics as usual in these unusual times.

Lead investigator:

Leonardo Baccini

Affiliation:

McGill University

Primary topic:

Attitudes, media & governance

Region of data collection:

North America

Country of data collection

USA

Status of data collection

Complete

Type of data being collected:

From private company

Unit of real-time data collection

Region/State

Start date

3/2020

End date

3/2020

Frequency

Daily

Read the results from this research