Critical juncture, learning and state capacity-in-motion: pathway cases in Asia

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ABSTRACT Precisely because public health crises are uncertain, complex and have multiple dimensions, deeper institutional state capacity is needed. This article develops an approach to thinking about state capacity by incorporating time as a key component of a refurbished idea of state capacity. This reorientation helps us understand the specific mechanisms, especially of learning – that were crucial for the success of East Asian cases in managing the COVID-19 epidemic. Previous exposure to a health crisis – a critical juncture – activates learning capacity via two distinct mechanisms, one a political route of that restores public trust and renews the social contract, and the second through a functional route leading to administrative capacity building necessitated by a complex and multiplex crisis that crosses a variety of boundaries. Learning that builds coordinating state capacity is therefore needed. This article applies these ideas to understanding the successful pathway cases of South Korea and Taiwan.