Subnational government responses to the Covid-19 pandemic: Expectations, realities and lessons for the future

Although national government and international actor responses to the Covid-19 pandemic have been very much in the public eye, the subnational government role has received less attention. Certain pandemic impacts were universal, but the mix and relative severity differed across countries, The actions taken had to reflect these variations, as well as to reflect country socio-economic, fiscal, institutional and political context. Diversity across areas within countries also required differentiated action. This article provides an overview of the potential subnational government role in pandemic response, summarizes what is known about what actually occurred, and raises the prospect that what was learned in the pandemic might help policymakers and managers both to identify ways to better respond in future crises and to create awareness of and opportunities for needed reforms in intergovernmental systems. This background sets the stage for other articles in this issue that focus on selected countries. Their experiences reinforce lessons from global experience and also provide insights from deeper analysis of specific cases. © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Local response to the covid-19 pandemic: The case of Indonesia

Local governments play an important role in the COVID-19 pandemic response. They can identify the local vulnerabilities and respond accordingly. In this commentary, we are examining the relationship between COVID-19 case and fatality numbers and provincial governments in Indonesia using correlations and data visualization. We use the public health development index, regional sustainable development index, competitiveness index, and their components as proxies for provincial government capacity and strength. We have found some evidence of a negative relationship between COVID-19 case fatality and death rates and various indices of provincial strength. The correlations are higher when we examine provinces in island regions, such as Java and Sumatra, separately. Some of our findings suggest that stronger provincial governments are a good defense against the pandemic. At the same time there are differences between regions, which is a concern in terms of all-of-government response to the pandemic. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.