Carew Boulding

Governance and COVID-19 in Bolivia

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 19:17:05 +0000

Governance and COVID-19 in Bolivia Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 13:17

By: Calla Hummel, V Ximena Velasco Guachalla, Jami Nelson-Nuñez, Carew Boulding

Abstract:

On 10 March 2020, the Bolivian government identified two COVID-19 cases in Bolivians returning from Italy. The national government responded swiftly and sent the country into one of the world's strictest lockdowns on 22 March 2020. However, low state capacity and low government legitimacy snarled up the national government's response. Despite an initial centralized response to the pandemic, the national government devolved authority to the country's decentralized subnational authorities, with some following the national government's directives, most selectively complying, and some resisting. We analyse original daily data on COVID-19 cases, deaths, movements, and policies at the subnational level from Bolivia's nine departments. The data spans a year, from 10 March 2020 to 10 March 2021. We find that some departments had much higher cases and deaths per 100,000 residents than others. Our initial descriptive data suggests that local containment policies and proximity to Brazil explain some variation in cases and deaths, but surprisingly, local state and health capacity does not clearly account for the variation.

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Crime, Violence, and Political Participation

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 19:14:50 +0000

Crime, Violence, and Political Participation Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 13:14

Crime, Violence, and Political Participation

By: Carew Boulding, Shawnna Mullenax, Kathryn Schauer

Abstract:

The paper explores the relationship between crime victimization and political participation, making the argument that the observed (and oft-cited) relationship in surveys is the result of response bias. We show that people who are more extroverted, efficacious, and opinionated are more likely to respond positively to a question about victimization, and they are more likely to participate in politics. The implications of this finding are important and widespread—both for survey researchers interested in sensitive questions and for research on the relationship between crime and political engagement.

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Strengthening Health Systems To Face Pandemics: Subnational Policy Responses To COVID-19 In Latin America: Study examines policy responses to COVID-19 in Latin America.

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 19:13:00 +0000

Strengthening Health Systems To Face Pandemics: Subnational Policy Responses To COVID-19 In Latin America: Study examines policy responses to COVID-19 in Latin America. Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 13:13

Strengthening Health Systems To Face Pandemics: Subnational Policy Responses To COVID-19 In Latin America: Study examines policy responses to COVID-19 in Latin America.

By: Felicia Marie Knaul, Michael M Touchton, Hector Arreola-Ornelas, Renzo Calderon-Anyosa, Silvia Otero-Bahamón, Calla Hummel, Pedro Pérez-Cruz, Thalia Porteny, Fausto Patino, Rifat Atun, Patricia J Garcia, Jorge Insua, Oscar Mendez, Eduardo Undurraga, Carew Boulding, Jami Nelson-Nuñez, V Ximena Velasco Guachalla, Mariano Sanchez-Talanquer

Abstract:

Nonpharmaceutical interventions such as stay-at-home orders continue to be the main policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic in countries with limited or slow vaccine rollout. Often, nonpharmaceutical interventions are managed or implemented at the subnational level, yet little information exists on within-country variation in nonpharmaceutical intervention policies. We focused on Latin America, a COVID-19 epicenter, and collected and analyzed daily subnational data on public health measures in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru to compare within- and across-country nonpharmaceutical interventions. We showed high heterogeneity in the adoption of these interventions at the subnational level in Brazil and Mexico; consistent national guidelines with subnational heterogeneity in Argentina and Colombia; and homogeneous policies guided by centralized national policies in Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. Our results point to the role of subnational policies and governments in responding to health crises. We found that subnational responses cannot replace coordinated national policy. Our findings imply that governments should focus on evidence-based national policies while coordinating with subnational governments to tailor local responses to changing local conditions.

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Corruption perceptions: Confidence in elections and evaluations of clientelism

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 19:10:28 +0000

Corruption perceptions: Confidence in elections and evaluations of clientelism Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 13:10

Corruption perceptions: Confidence in elections and evaluations of clientelism

By: Emily Beaulieu Bacchus, Carew Boulding

Abstract:

How does the fairness of the democratic process influence public perceptions of corruption? This article demonstrates the ways that elections can influence broader confidence in democracy. Corruption is often described as one of the most serious problems facing democracy today, and citizen confidence in democracy has implications for system support and legitimacy. What constitutes corruption, however, is not always obvious. We focus on the importance of citizens' feelings about electoral integrity for shaping their attitudes about corruption more broadly. Using survey data from Latin America and an experimental survey in the United States, we show that when asked to evaluate political practices as corrupt or not, people who are more confident in the fairness of their electoral process are generally less concerned about corruption, compared with people who are less confident in elections. These effects hold across a range of practices, experiences, and electoral contexts.

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Legitimacy and policy during crises: Subnational COVID-19 responses in Bolivia

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 19:08:54 +0000

Legitimacy and policy during crises: Subnational COVID-19 responses in Bolivia Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 13:08

Legitimacy and policy during crises: Subnational COVID-19 responses in Bolivia

By: V Ximena Velasco-Guachalla, Calla Hummel, Jami Nelson-Nuñez, Carew Boulding

Abstract:

Why did some Bolivian departments have more success containing COVID-19 than others? We argue that low government legitimacy hampers coordinated responses to national crises, particularly where political polarization is severe and the crisis response becomes politicized. Low legitimacy can intensify the challenges of poverty and poor infrastructure. An original dataset of daily observations on subnational coronavirus policy and cell phone mobility data, paired with administrative data on cases and deaths, suggests that political divisions influenced governors’ policy implementation and citizens’ compliance. In departments that opposed the president, policies were more likely to deviate from the stricter national policy while mobility and protest activity were high. In departments aligned with the president, local policy followed national policy and citizens complied with policy and quarantine restrictions for a longer period of time.

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Globalization and nationalism: contending forces in world politics

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 19:07:12 +0000

Globalization and nationalism: contending forces in world politics Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 13:07

Globalization and nationalism: contending forces in world politics

By: Niccolò W Bonifai, Nita Rudra, Carew Boulding, Samantha L Moya

Abstract:

Globalization is facing widespread condemnation at a time when worldwide crises ranging from climate change to pandemic policy increasingly demand a coordinated response. Rising nationalist, populist, and anti-globalization movements in many of the world's richest nations are placing great pressure on the international system pioneered by Western democracies following World War II. This special issue showcases new research on the sources and types of backlash. It also considers the consequences of this backlash for democracy, for international institutions and foreign policy. We aim to broaden the debate on the causes and consequences of rising populism and nationalism and offer unique perspectives on how and why the current international order is struggling to address the many global challenges in need of large-scale cooperative solutions.

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Conservative Party-Building in Latin America: Authoritarian Inheritance and Counterrevolutionary Struggle

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 19:03:56 +0000

Conservative Party-Building in Latin America: Authoritarian Inheritance and Counterrevolutionary Struggle Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 13:03

Conservative Party-Building in Latin America: Authoritarian Inheritance and Counterrevolutionary Struggle.

By: Carew Boulding, Claudio A Holzner

Abstract:

In the end, the findings in the book are very robust to different specifications, but we faced some difficult tradeoffs. For example, we initially created an index of political participation that included eight different modes of political participation asked in LAPOP surveys up until 2012. This index was more robust and less susceptible to bias from one kind of political act alone. It also produced a stronger negative relationship between wealth and political participation than the 4-point index we eventually used. One of the most difficult decisions we had to make was whether to include our full index of political participation valid only up until 2012 or to use the 4-point index that allowed us to bring the analysis closer to the present. Given that the core substantive results were essentially the same regardless of how we constructed the index, we opted for using the most up-to-date information available to us at the time.

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Response to James Loxton Review of Voice and Inequality: Poverty and Political Participation in Latin American Democracies

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 19:01:17 +0000

Response to James Loxton Review of Voice and Inequality: Poverty and Political Participation in Latin American Democracies Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 13:01

Response to James Loxton Review of Voice and Inequality: Poverty and Political Participation in Latin American Democracies

By: Carew Boulding, Claudio A Holzner

Abstract:

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Learning from Latin America: coordinating policy responses across national and subnational levels to combat COVID-19

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 18:59:09 +0000

Learning from Latin America: coordinating policy responses across national and subnational levels to combat COVID-19 Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 12:59

Learning from Latin America: coordinating policy responses across national and subnational levels to combat COVID-19

By: Michael M Touchton, Felicia Marie Knaul, Hector Arreola-Ornelas, Renzo Calderon-Anyosa, Silvia Otero-Bahamón, Calla Hummel, Pedro Pérez-Cruz, Thalia Porteny, Fausto Patino, Patricia J Garcia, Jorge Insua, Oscar Mendez-Carniado, Carew Boulding, Jami Nelson-Nuñez, V Ximena Velasco Guachalla

Abstract:
We provide policy lessons for governments across Latin America by drawing on an original dataset of daily national and subnational non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) during the COVID-19 pandemic for eight Latin American countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru. Our analysis offers lessons for health system decision-making at various levels of government and highlights the impact of subnational policy implementation for responding to health crises. However, subnational responses cannot replace coordinated national policy; governments should emphasize the vertical integration of evidence-based policy from national to local levels while tailoring local policies to local conditions as they evolve. Horizontal policy integration across sectors and jurisdictions will also improve coordination at each level of government. The Latin American experiences with policy and politics during the COVID-19 pandemic project glocal health policy recommendations that connect global considerations with local needs.

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Non-pharmaceutical interventions to combat COVID-19 in the Americas described through daily sub-national data

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 18:55:55 +0000

Non-pharmaceutical interventions to combat COVID-19 in the Americas described through daily sub-national data Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 12:55

Author Correction: Non-pharmaceutical interventions to combat COVID-19 in the Americas described through daily sub-national data

By: Michael Touchton, Felicia Marie Knaul, Héctor Arreola-Ornelas, Thalia Porteny, Óscar Méndez Carniado, Marco Faganello, Calla Hummel, Silvia Otero, Jorge Insua, Fausto Patino, Eduardo Undurraga, Pedro Pérez-Cruz, Mariano Sanchez-Talanquer, V Ximena Velasco Guachalla, Jami Nelson-Nuñez, Carew Boulding, Renzo Calderon-Anyosa, Patricia J Garcia, Valentina Vargas Enciso

Abstract:

This dataset covers national and subnational non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in the Americas. Prior to the development of a vaccine, NPI were governments’ primary tools to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Variation in subnational responses to COVID-19 is high and is salient for health outcomes. This dataset captures governments’ dynamic, varied NPI to combat COVID-19 for 80% of Latin America population from each country first case through December 2021. These daily data encompass all national and subnational units in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru. The dataset includes individual and aggregate indices of nine NPI: school closures, work suspensions, public event cancellations, public transport suspensions, information campaigns, local travel restrictions, international travel controls, stay-at-home orders, and restrictions on the size of gatherings. We also collected data on mask mandates as a separate indicator. Local country-teams drew from multiple data sources, resulting in high-quality, reliable data. The dataset thus allows for consistent, meaningful comparisons of NPI within and across countries during the pandemic.

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