Corona 3: competition of regimes?
1/4 Different pol.regimes,states, countries are acting differently in the Covid-crisis with diff. results.Does the pol. Regime matter?Autocracy vs democracy? Confucian societies vs lib. societies.Autocratic China prevails over dem. US? @jkeaneSDN

2/4 Cross country data on death & infection rates do not help much. Diff. Modes of testing, sampling and reporting generate biases. Performance analyses can hardly be based on these data. Nevertheless, some patterns of successful & failing countries are recognizable.

3/4 It is not so much the pol. Regime that matters, but the type of state & society. The most relevant factors are: state will, state capacity, state action. Also important is whether a society displays high social cohesion and strong (Confucian) support for the common good.

4/4 Singapore,Hong Kong,S.Korea & Taiwan display these factors.The US is the opposite:low state capacity, failing pol.leadership,belated action combined with fragmented,individ. and polarized soc. Plus a class based med. system. is scarcely equipped to fight the Great Pestilence.