Week 2 Discussion: Federalism

Please choose one of the following questions and react to it briefly in the discussion boards.

Discussion question options:

• Consider our reading on federalism and Covid-19 this week. In your view, what are the advantages and disadvantages of having state and local governments take the lead in pandemic prevention policy? Can you imagine a better way to produce new policy ideas and more efficient coordination

• If you could make a recommendation to help the national and state governments coordinate their responses to Coronavirus, what would it be? Why would this be an important recommendation?

• Over the last two weeks we have learned about how our Constitution was created to help coordinate and resolve collective action problems. What collective action problems do you see now in American state politics? How can the federal government help resolve the problem you’ve identified ? (You can think about collective action problems in clean air, immigration, medical supplies, or anything else.) You can also discuss differences you may see between the Biden and Trump administrations, or compare other countries response to the USA’s efforts to control Covid-19.

Week 2 Discussion: Federalism Answer

Consider our reading on federalism and Covid-19 this week.  In your view, what are the advantages and disadvantages of having state and local governments take the lead in pandemic prevention policy? Can you imagine a better way to produce new policy ideas and more efficient coordination?

There are advantages and disadvantages of having state and local governments take the lead in pandemic prevention policy. Some of the advantages include faster distribution of funds, deployment of personnel and resources, and closer coordination with the local residents regarding the pandemic response.