Social distancing in risk society: a cross-national analysis of policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT Countries that implement strict policy measures to combat coronavirus contagion increase their probability of achieving successful social distancing practice when compared to the countries without such strict policies. I used Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) as a quasi-experimental evaluation option to perform regression models and show differences in social distancing efforts. I utilized 3,997 observations for 132 countries, drawn from the Oxford CGRT Stringency Index and Google Community Mobility data. The results show that people’s community mobility to various locations has flattened significantly as policy measures become stricter. In this paper, I considered current underlying health situation to be symptomatic of a risk society and argued that policy interventions’ effectiveness in response to COVID-19 depends on political leaders, public health authorities, and institutions’ credibility. Political rhetoric, politically motivated scientific solutions, and political downplaying of the underlying health implications weaken the responsible organizations and institutions, particularly when leaders undermine inclusive stringent policies and their implementation.