Comparing Motivations for Including Enforcement in US COVID-19 State Executive Orders

Abstract

The United States’ response to COVID-19 has been predominantly led by state governments. To understand if, why, and how state governments include enforcement language in their executive order response, this article conducts an analysis based on 1,357 coded executive orders. It is found that decisions to include enforcement language are influenced by a governor’s political circumstances and perceived risks associated with the crisis. This paper offers insight into how these findings are important for future research and an explanation of the distinct ways that US state governments are choosing to address COVID-19.

Keywords:

• enforcement
• COVID-19
• policy design
• compliance

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Office of the Vice President for Research at Indiana University.

Notes on contributors

Cali Curley

Cali Curley is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Miami. Her research focuses on local and state government policy design choices and their effectiveness. Dr. Curley‟s published work explores the motivations of policy design choices and their influence on environmental, equity, and public health outcomes.

Nicky Harrison

Nicky Harrison is an MPA graduate of the IUPUI O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs and is currently the Government Relations and Public Policy Manager for United Way of Central Indiana. Her research can be found in the Review of Policy Research and the  Journal of Environmental Planning and Management.

Peter Federman

Peter Stanley Federman is an assistant professor in the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). His research focuses on the politics of administration and policy; and how bureaucrats engage in political action and behavior throughout the policy-making process. His published work has addressed multiple policy areas including policing, public health, national defense, and human resources.