The Chinese government took dramatic action when it shut down Wuhan and other cities in the Hubei province on January 23rd. There have been endless accounts of how the government imposed draconian travel restrictions and imposed a “war like” campaign to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The government was able to act so decisively, in part, because it is an autocratic state that is able to coerce its people’s movement, work, and activities.
Although democracies can’t coerce their people as easily, democratic governments have other advantages that help during times of crisis. Most notably, democratic governments are more transparent, they are more accountable to the people, and they have free markets that unleash individuals to find creative solutions to problems. These advantages are huge. They’re why democracies win wars at higher rates than autocracies and have faster growing economies. If I had to bet on what kind of government is going to be better able to address a major crisis, my money is on a democracy.
But this brings me to the concept of the uncanny valley. The uncanny valley is a concept from visual mediums. The idea is that depictions of people that are close-to-realistic, but not all the way realistic, are more off-putting than depictions that are much less realistic. I’d describe it in greater detail, but there’s really no way to do it better than 30 Rock did when Tracy Jordan asked Frank to “tell it to me in Star Wars” (start this clip at 4:45).
So why is this relevant?
I’m worried that the United States has slipped into the uncanny valley of democracy. We used to be all the way democratic — or at least, democratic minus the electoral college, gerrymandering, and a few other anti-democratic institutions — which was great for a crisis. We had transparent governmental institutions and amazing companies that were able to work together to solve problems.
Now, by contrast, every report coming out about the US government’s response to the coronavirus is that the Trump administration is trampling on the advantages that democracies have to address crises. For example, the administration is attempting to eliminate transparent institutions by trying to classify government deliberations on how to respond to the virus, and has prevented private firms and front line doctors from innovating in ways that would have helped increase coronavirus testing. (Though, to be fair, Steven Soderbergh warned us that the government might try to block private doctors from finding solutions — thankfully Elliott Gould didn’t listen.)
This is almost the worst of all worlds: a government with non-transparent institutions, dictating top-down “solutions,” but without state capacity to take dramatic steps. The Trump administration needs to reverse course fast and unleash the power of democratic institutions to help fight the coronavirus: be honest, be open, and allow for flexibility in the search for solutions.
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Update: A good thread on how, in South Korea, transparency and innovation were a key to the successes they’ve had limiting the spread of the coronavirus.