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Challenging Trust in Government: COVID in Sub-Saharan Africa
COVID als Vertrauensfrage für Regierungen in Subsahara-Afrika
[working paper]
Corporate Editor
German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) - Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien, Institut für Afrika-Studien
Abstract COVID-19, arguably the new millennium's most trying test of state capacity, caught the world off guard. In order to contain the spread of the virus, governments had to respond quickly and comprehensively: strict lockdowns, movement restrictions, masks, and social distancing - measures that draw not ... view more
COVID-19, arguably the new millennium's most trying test of state capacity, caught the world off guard. In order to contain the spread of the virus, governments had to respond quickly and comprehensively: strict lockdowns, movement restrictions, masks, and social distancing - measures that draw not only on public resources but also on the buy-in and cooperation of civil society. Citizen compliance and cooperation are founded on trust in government institutions. As such, the pandemic has also been a stress test for trust in government.
Trust in government is a crucial determinant of effective crisis management, and governments lacking such trust suffer a profound disadvantage.
In many instances, strict lockdown measures were accompanied by an expansion of executive powers. This creates power imbalances, or aggravates existing ones, and poses a threat to trust in government.
High levels of vaccine hesitancy, a looming recession, and expectations of government support require ongoing efforts to build and ensure trust in government.
Even though many African countries seem to have gotten through the coronavirus crisis relatively well until now, vaccine hesitancy and looming recessions pose ongoing challenges for trust in government. Hence, governments must actively engage in building trust as they prepare for future crises. The Ebola epidemic has shown that a bottom-up approach entailing collaboration with pre-existing networks and institutions at the local level can facilitate this process. In contexts where executive powers have been expanded, the evolution of this process needs to be carefully monitored.... view less
Keywords
Africa South of the Sahara; politics; government; health care delivery system; epidemic; crisis; illness; contagious disease; crisis management (econ., pol.); population; confidence; government policy; health policy; Liberia; Senegal; Togo; Benin; Niger; Burkina Faso; Sierra Leone; Malawi
Classification
Health Policy
Free Keywords
Pandemie; Covid-19
Document language
English
Publication Year
2021
City
Hamburg
Page/Pages
11 p.
Series
GIGA Focus Afrika, 3
ISSN
1862-3603
Status
Published Version; reviewed