Federalism, Intergovernmental Relationships, and Emergency Response: A Comparison of Australia and the United States

• DOI: 10.1177/0275074020941696
• Author: Davia Cox Downey,William M. Myers
• Published date: 01 August 2020
• Date: 01 August 2020
• Subject Matter: Executive Leadership & FederalismConfronting Federalism in the Age of COVID-19

https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074020941696

American Review of Public Administration

2020, Vol. 50(6-7) 526 –535

© The Author(s) 2020

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DOI: 10.1177/0275074020941696

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Confronting Federalism in the Age of COVID-19

Introduction

With the recent COVID-19 (novel coronavirus disease 2019)

pandemic, disruptions to governance have significantly

increased. During crises, governments are tasked with

responding to highly technical, complex issues and strong

intergovernmental response is critical for stemming the

worst damage during the outset of a disaster. As seen in gov-

ernmental response to past disasters (Hurricane Katrina in

the United States in 2005, the Japanese Fukushima Nuclear

Disaster in 2011, and the Australian Wildfires of 2019–2020),

gaps in local, state, and national policies are exposed leading

to policy change. In some cases, these responses produce real

change, whereas, in others, fissures in equity, access to deci-

sion makers, and economic rebound are complicated by a

lack of strong guidance. The novel coronavirus poses a

worldwide health crisis that demands a holistic response

marked by collaborative planning within and between net-

works of constituent governments, medical experts, and

emergency managers. As scholars and policymakers grapple

with understanding how different governments are respond-

ing to these new circumstances, an exploration of federal

states and their response to the evolving crisis may shed

some light on the utility of this form of governance for future

disasters.

This commentary highlights the differences in response in

these two countries, provides a comparison of the differences

in the intergovernmental relationships between the Prime

Minister of Australia and state premiers, and the President of

the United States’ contentious relations with state governors

during the pandemic to shed light on how well federations

are equipped to respond to a crisis of this magnitude. This

piece concludes with a set of suggested best practices which

aim to inform scholars of federalism, practitioners of emer-

gency management tasked with response, and state and local

leaders in federations across the world.

Federalism and Intergovernmental

Relations

In crises, all governmental systems, but particularly federal

systems, face challenges related to horizontal and vertical

collaboration and coordination (Gray, 1985; Ryan, 2012;

Zimmerman, 2011). For simplicity, we can think of federal-

ism as a system of government that balances citizen prefer-

ences for both joint actions at the national level for certain

purposes and the allowance of self-government of constitu-

ent units for other purposes (Caldwell, 1990; Elazar, 1997;

941696ARPXXX10.1177/0275074020941696The American Review of Public AdministrationDowney and Myers

research-article2020

1Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI, USA

2The University of Tampa, FL, USA

Corresponding Author:

Davia Cox Downey, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, 401 Fulton

Street West, Grand Rapids, MI 49504,MI, USA.

Email: downeyd@gvsu.edu

Federalism, Intergovernmental

Relationships, and Emergency Response:

A Comparison of Australia and the

United States

Davia Cox Downey1 and William M. Myers2

Abstract

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted governance. A strong intergovernmental response is critical for

stemming the worst damage during the outset of a disaster. Collaborative planning with networks of constituent governments,

medical experts, and emergency managers are needed to provide a holistic response to the highly technical and complex issues

brought on by the novel coronavirus. This commentary highlights the differences in response by the United States and Australia,

provides a comparison of intergovernmental relationships, and sheds light on how these federations vertical and horizontal

collaborative efforts were stymied by politics or facilitated by existing intergovernmental forums.

Keywords

executive federalism, intergovernmental relations, disaster response, Australia