The Global Erosion of Trust and Democracy and Its Implications for Health and Societies

Project Expert

Thomas J. Bollyky
Thomas J. Bollyky

Bloomberg Chair in Global Health; Senior Fellow for International Economics, Law, and Development; and Director of the Global Health Program

About the Project

Well-functioning democracies create a virtuous cycle. The government is trustworthy, citizens recognize it as such, and respond by cooperating with its policies. That cooperation enables government to deliver, further extending that trust. The converse, however, is also true. In dysfunctional democracies, political polarization and looming collective action challenges make it harder for governments to perform successfully.  Polarization makes it difficult for people to agree on basic facts concerning government performance, presenting a formidable barrier to the rapid restoration of trust. Reported levels of trust in government and among citizens are declining in many democracies, especially in the United States. This decline had devastating consequences in the COVID-19 pandemic, where low-trust societies performed significantly worse than their counterparts, but it has broader implications for health and societies as well. The Project on the Global Erosion of Trust and Democracy examines the global erosion of trust and democracy and its implications for how the United States pursues better health at home and abroad.

Events

Public Health Threats and Pandemics

Public Health Lessons From COVID-19

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Webinar with Thomas J. Bollyky and Irina A. Faskianos June 8, 2023 State and Local Webinars

COVID-19

Not All U.S. States Struggled Equally Against COVID-19

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The COVID-19 pandemic devastated the United States with over one million deaths over three years. Yet, the burden of the virus was not spread evenly across the country. States like Vermont and Washington had death rates comparable to well-performing countries in Scandinavia, while Mississippi and Arizona fared as poorly as the worst performing nations in the world, Russia and Peru. Speakers, Emma S. Castro and Joseph L. Dieleman from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, discuss the factors that contributed to those incredibly large cross-state differences in COVID-19 outcomes and the lessons learned from the parts of the United States that performed well.

Virtual Event with Emma S. Castro, Emma S. Castro, Joseph L. Dieleman, Joseph L. Dieleman, Thomas J. Bollyky and Thomas J. Bollyky June 1, 2023 Global Health Program