Good Democratic Governance Can Combat COVID-19

Some scholars argue that democratic countries are in crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic and authoritarian countries tend to combat COVID-19. However, these studies are usually based on reported data susceptible to manipulation and often overlook successful cases such as New Zealand and Taiwan, which are considered to have higher levels of government effectiveness. Using excess mortality data from 78 countries, this study analyzed the impact of government effectiveness and its relationship with political regimes. The results revealed that democratic countries with higher government effectiveness can reduce COVID-19 excess mortality. This study suggests that democratic countries need not give up freedom and need to improve government effectiveness to combat COVID-19.