Comparative Public Policy Analysis of COVID-19 as a Naturally Occurring Experiment

This collection presents an effort to draw on the COVID-19 global pandemic, as a rare "naturally occurring experiment", to advance the comparative public policy scholarship and disseminate knowledge on international policy approaches to this extreme crisis situation. From a comparative lens, these articles reveal how factors such as partisan politics, intergovernmental relationships, culture, and state capacity shape crisis policy responses in contrast to normal policymaking. This collection also provides important lesson drawing: national–local coordination, social safety nets, and a well-organized sector of community workers are all part of a society's capacity and resilience in a time of crisis.