Abstract
This study leverages a high dimensional manifold learning design to explore the latent structure of the pandemic policymaking space only based on bill-level characteristics of pandemic-focused bills from 1973 to 2020. Results indicate the COVID-19 era of policymaking maps extremely closely onto prior periods of related policymaking. This suggests that there is striking uniformity in Congressional policymaking related to these types of large-scale crises over time, despite currently operating in a unique era of hyperpolarization, division, and ineffective governance.
Highlights
COVID-19 has rattled the world with far reaching consequences from social[1] and political[2], to epidemiological[3] and emotional[4]
I set out to explore and uncover the lower dimensional manifold of American policymaking related to epidemics and pandemics broadly defined
A second order goal was to understand whether the unique institutional context of political division and polarization influence the policies aimed at addressing COVID-19
Summary
COVID-19 has rattled the world with far reaching consequences from social[1] and political[2], to epidemiological[3] and emotional[4]. Is to understand whether characteristics of bills on similar topics are stable over time, or whether they shift in detectable ways If stable, this would suggest we are not witnessing a unique period in policymaking during COVID-19, as the manifolds would map well onto each other. The manifolds are nearly identical, based on bill characteristics after accounting for time This suggests that there is less of an “evolutionary trend” in pandemic policymaking, where instead there is striking uniformity in this type of Congressional policymaking, despite currently operating an era of hyperpolarization[25], deepening mass political polarization[26], and ineffective governance[27]. Implications of these findings and steps are discussed in the concluding remarks
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