Federalism during a pandemic has some significant benefits and drawbacks. One of the major benefits was the ability of individual states to respond quickly and efficiently to more localized outbreaks. With more authority given to the states, they could tailor their efforts to their residents’ needs.
An example would be how Michigan had stricter mask requirements, and we saw establishments getting shut down that wouldn’t have been in other states. We had these restrictions because our area had more outbreaks happening.
One of the problems Federalism faces during a pandemic can be due to the inconsistency in these policies across state lines. This can spread from one state to another and confuse the entire country as they struggle to understand what is happening in the first place. Also, this can lead to a lack of funding or resources for specific states as they are more isolated with regulations about the pandemic.
There must be a medium-road approach to this in our government system where national efforts are provided, and states have the power to help communities the best they can during the situation. A pandemic is when states unite and help each other without needing a national government. Hopefully, we will see more coordinated efforts among them if something like this happens again.
