How Well Do They Manage a Crisis? The Government's Effectiveness During the COVID‐19 Pandemic

Abstract

The Covid‐19 pandemic clearly highlighted the importance of effective crisis management and its relationship with citizens’ willingness to cooperate with the government in such turbulent times. We develop a theory and hypotheses about the impact of citizens’ experiences on their perceptions of the government's effectiveness during times of crisis. We do so with data collected at two points in time: in late March 2020 during the first peak of the Covid‐19 crisis in Israel, and in October 2020 when Israel was exiting from a second lockdown. The findings demonstrate that during crises citizens focus on the short term and seek immediate results in terms of readiness and preparedness. During such times, the government's responsiveness and transparency, as well as the public's participation in decisions, seem even more important than their trust in the government. Implications and practical recommendations follow. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Science Mapping of the Global Knowledge Base on Management, Leadership, and Administration Related to COVID-19 for Promoting the Sustainability of Scientific Research

“…Acuto [68] stated that crises such as COVID-19 had helped us learn essential lessons in global and urban governance. In this context, it is indisputable that effective crisis management helps reduce the potential risks for society and reduce both the financial and social impact [69]. However, how many countries managed the COVID-19 crisis also caused some level of controversy [70].…”

Institution efficiency satisfaction and emotional responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Arab citizens of Israel: An exploratory cross-sectional study

“…The restrictive measures are being lifted or abolished, and least part of them is brought back or becomes stricter again, as several countries have been experiencing more than one wave of elevated morbidity due to infection with various variants of the virus. This includes Israel, where three total lockdowns, corresponding to three major morbidity waves, were imposed: the first one – starting from March 25, 2020 till the beginning of its gradual lifting on April 19, 2020 [ 6 ]; the second one – from September 13, 2020 [ 7 ] till the beginning of its gradual lifting about a month later [ 8 ]; and the third one – from January 8, 2021 till the beginning of its gradual relaxing starting on February 7, 2021 [ 9 ].…”

“…Several studies employed institution-related variables, such as trust in government; however, they chiefly examined its association with individual behavior outcomes, such as adoption of health protective behaviors [ 17 ] and compliance with COVID-19-related governmental policy [ 18 ]. Furthermore, it is difficult to rely on trust as an indicator of institutional performance in specific contexts since it reflects a long-term and consolidated view of the institutions [ 8 ]. Trust represents a global assessment of institutions rather than experience driven evaluation of their performance and gratification received from that [ 19 ].…”

“…Two studies related to the institutional performance during the pandemic (Mizrachi et al, 2021 [ 20 ]; However, study by Mori et al [ 20 ]; which explored the communication between one Italian local government and citizens via Facebook, did not focus on the association between such communication (or its efficiency) and individual emotional responses to the pandemic. Study by Mizrahi et al [ 8 ]; which predicted effectiveness of crisis management in Israel, did not refer to emotional responses to the pandemic. In addition, even when mental health issues or emotional responses to the pandemic were examined as phenomena, the predictors used were the extent of protective behaviors implementation [ 13 ], extent of social media exposure during the pandemic [ 16 ], or socio-demographic background [ 1 ].…”

“…Part of the countries have even adopted a policy aiming at the constant evaluation of institutional performance [ 23 ]. In times of crisis like COVID-19 pandemic, these evaluations are even more important because they may determine the extent of cooperation with various institutions and the degree of legitimacy given to them, therefore being essential for a proper functioning of the society in times of major crisis [ 8 ].…”