Culture, Freedom, and the Spread of Covid‐19: Do Some Societies and Political Systems Have National Anti‐Bodies?

• Published date: 01 December 2020
• Author: Jeremy D. Mayer,Laurie A. Schintler,Scott Bledsoe
• Date: 01 December 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/wmh3.377

498

doi: 10.1002/wmh3.377

© 2020 Policy Studies Organization

Culture, Freedom, and the Spread of Covid‐19: Do Some

Societies and Political Systems Have National

Anti‐Bodies?

Jeremy D. Mayer, Laurie A. Schintler , and Scott Bledsoe

Public health scholars have previously explored the impact of culture upon various aspects of in-

fectious disease policy. Similarly, regime type, while less studied, has been suggested as a possible

explanation for varying rates of efficacy in infection vulnerability, mitigation, and abatement. The

COVID‐19 pandemic offers an intriguing opportunity to test whether culture or level of societal

freedom affects how different societies manage a serious pandemic challenge. We examine whether

societies that are more free or have different cultures are more or less effective at managing the spread

of COVID‐19. To examine possible correlational pathways, we conduct a country‐level regression

analysis. After controlling for population size, income, stringency of government policies, population

density, and age dispersion, we find that the level of freedom in a political system is unrelated to rates

of COVID‐19 infection, at least in the time period under study. By contrast, two cultural families

seemed to show at least temporary superiority in disease response: Confucian and South Asian

culturally affiliated nations. While our results may be artifacts of aspects of the disease not yet revealed

by science, if they are sustained by future research, they potentially offer insights into unusual

intersections of culture and public health.

KEY WORDS: COVID‐19, culture, freedom

Introduction

As nations around the world struggle to contain the spread of the COVID‐19

outbreak, questions naturally arise as to factors that contribute to or detract from

these efforts. In this paper, we examine whether national culture or political

freedom plays a role in comparative COVID‐19 response.

Since COVID‐19 first rose to public attention in late 2019, the spread of the

virus has caused unprecedented public health responses and economic suffering.

Globally, more than 52 million people are confirmed to have contracted the virus,

with estimates of those who may have contracted it but never known it ranged

from 10 to 20 times higher (World Health Organization, 2020). More than 1,200,000

people worldwide have perished from the virus (World Health Organ-

ization, 2020), with most public health experts believing this number is a gross

undercount of the true number of fatalities. This virus outbreak is the most serious

global public health threat in a century.