About the Project
Well-functioning democracies create a virtuous cycle. The government is trustworthy, citizens recognize it as such, and respond by cooperating with its policies. That cooperation enables government to deliver, further extending that trust. The converse, however, is also true. In dysfunctional democracies, political polarization and looming collective action challenges make it harder for governments to perform successfully. Polarization makes it difficult for people to agree on basic facts concerning government performance, presenting a formidable barrier to the rapid restoration of trust. Reported levels of trust in government and among citizens are declining in many democracies, especially in the United States. This decline had devastating consequences in the COVID-19 pandemic, where low-trust societies performed significantly worse than their counterparts, but it has broader implications for health and societies as well. The Project on the Global Erosion of Trust and Democracy examines the global erosion of trust and democracy and its implications for how the United States pursues better health at home and abroad.
Events
Public Health Threats and Pandemics
Thomas J. Bollyky, senior fellow for global health, economics, and development and director of the Global Health program at CFR, leads a conversation on observations and lessons learned from states’ …
Webinar with Thomas J. Bollyky and Irina A. Faskianos June 8, 2023 State and Local Webinars
COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic devastated the United States with over one million deaths over three years. Yet, the burden of the virus was not spread evenly across the country. States like Vermont and Washington had death rates comparable to well-performing countries in Scandinavia, while Mississippi and Arizona fared as poorly as the worst performing nations in the world, Russia and Peru. Speakers, Emma S. Castro and Joseph L. Dieleman from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, discuss the factors that contributed to those incredibly large cross-state differences in COVID-19 outcomes and the lessons learned from the parts of the United States that performed well.
Virtual Event with Emma S. Castro, Emma S. Castro, Joseph L. Dieleman, Joseph L. Dieleman, Thomas J. Bollyky and Thomas J. Bollyky June 1, 2023 Global Health Program
- Publications
- In the News
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Global Health Program
with Thomas J. Bollyky and Michael Bang Peterson via Bulletin of the World Health Organization June 1, 2024
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COVID-19
Judging How U.S. States Performed in the COVID-19 Pandemic Depends on the MetricThe United States struggled with COVID-19, but some states managed to keep deaths and infections relatively low without shutting society down or ignoring the crisis.
Interactive by Thomas J. Bollyky, Isabella Turilli and Emma Castro July 13, 2023 Global Health Program
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United States
with Thomas J. Bollyky, Joseph L. Dieleman and Isabella Turilli via Think Global Health May 11, 2023
United States
with Thomas J. Bollyky, Joseph L. Dieleman, Erin N. Hulland, Isabella Turilli, Elle Ruggiero, Hamza Tariq Chaudhry, Christopher Murray and Christopher Troeger via Lancet March 23, 2023
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United States
with Thomas J. Bollyky, Ilona Kickbusch and Michael Bang Peterson via Foreign Affairs January 30, 2023
Democracy
with Thomas J. Bollyky, Simon Wigley and Joseph L. Dieleman via The Lancet August 27, 2022
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COVID-19
with Thomas J. Bollyky, Joseph L. Dieleman and Erin N. Hulland via Wall Street Journal February 3, 2022
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Public Health Threats and Pandemics
with Thomas J. Bollyky, Erin N. Hulland, Joseph L. Dieleman and Samantha Kiernan via Lancet February 1, 2022
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COVID-19
with Thomas J. Bollyky and Christopher Troeger via Think Global Health November 30, 2021
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Economic Crises
with Thomas J. Bollyky, Tara Templin, Simon Wigley, John Everett Mumford, Molly Miller-Petrie and Samantha Kiernan via Health Affairs August 2, 2021
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Demonstrations and Protests
with Thomas J. Bollyky, Samantha Kiernan, Bayan Galal and Serena Tohme via Think Global Health July 28, 2021
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Democracy
with Thomas J. Bollyky and Ilona Kickbusch via BMJ October 23, 2020
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Democracy
with Thomas J. Bollyky, Tara Templin, Simon Wigley, Joseph L. Dieleman and John Everett Mumford via BMJ October 23, 2020
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COVID-19
with Thomas J. Bollyky, Sawyer Crosby and Samantha Kiernan via Foreign Affairs October 23, 2020
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Noncommunicable Diseases
with Thomas J. Bollyky, Simon Wigley, Tara Templin, Joseph L. Dieleman and Samantha Kiernan via Lancet Global Health April 1, 2020
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Global Health Program
with Thomas J. Bollyky via Foreign Affairs January 30, 2020
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Noncommunicable Diseases
Autocracy Is Hazardous for Your HealthDemocracy does not die in the darkness so often anymore. It dies in the light, one election at a time, with voters embracing the populists and autocrats who promise to cut the red tape and deliver th…
Interactive by Thomas J. Bollyky, Tara Templin and Simon Wigley December 4, 2019 Global Health Program
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Health
with Thomas J. Bollyky via Chief Medical Officer Annual Report 2019: Partnering for Progress July 22, 2019
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Democracy
with Thomas J. Bollyky, Tara Templin and Simon Wigley via Washington Post March 22, 2019
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Democracy
with Thomas J. Bollyky and Tara Templin via CNN March 20, 2019
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Noncommunicable Diseases
Democracy Matters in Global HealthDemocracy has played little role in the recent history of global health, but new research published in theLancetshows democracy is becoming more important as the health needs of low- and middle-income nations shift from infectious diseases to noncommunicable diseases.
Interactive by Thomas J. Bollyky March 14, 2019 Global Health Program
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Noncommunicable Diseases
with Thomas J. Bollyky, Tara Templin, Matthew Cohen, Diana Schoder, Joseph L. Dieleman and Simon Wigley via Lancet March 13, 2019
