As the enormity of the COVID-19 crisis appeared, the first cry that went out was that the effectiveness of countermeasures would depend on people’s willingness to do as they were told.
To succeed required a strongly paternalist public culture, leading to predictions that countries such as Singapore (in the semi-democratic club) and China (in the authoritarian one) would meet the challenge best.
Loading...
Shamit Saggar heads the Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success at Curtin University and was a former senior official in the UK Blair Government.
