New Zealand’s response to the COVID-19 epidemic under the leadership of Jacinda Ardern and the labour party has arguably been the best in the world. The strength of a government can be defined by how well it cares for its people, and New Zealand has done exceptionally well under that definition. The island nation of almost 5 million had around 1000 active cases in mid-March and managed to virtually eradicate the virus by the end of May.(1) The country was COVID free for 102 days before a new outbreak in early August.(2) New Zealand’s success dealing with coronavirus is strongly tied to its competency as a democracy. New Zealand has a near perfect Freedom House score of 97/100, and the 3 points against it are due to historical and systematic discrimination against the Maori population which the current administration is prioritizing for the next term.(3) The parliament has been very responsive to its peoples needs and has emphasized transparency in its Coronavirus response. New Zealand has a strong multiparty system which has, so far, always relied on a coalition in parliament making sure that no one party can dominate decision making. By acting quickly, efficiently, and putting its people first when dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic New Zealand has demonstrated that by prioritizing its citizenry a government will be more successful in the long term than if elected official prioritizes themselves
When compared to other nations, New Zealand’s coronavirus response has been exemplary. So far the United States has had over 200,000 deaths and at no point was a mandatory lockdown put in place; whereas New Zealand’s response was immediate and forceful. On March 23rd, just after surpassing 100 cases of coronavirus, the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a total lockdown to begin two days later.(4) The lockdown period in New Zealand mandated no social contact with anyone outside of one’s own household for six weeks.(5) To deal with the financial strain imposed on people by stopping industry wage subsidies were made available three days after the lockdown was put in place.(6) The New Zealand strategy had the intent of stopping transmissions altogether, not merely to keep transmission rates low–as most other Western countries tried to do– and it worked brilliantly for the nation. Ardern stressed transparency and caution while dealing with coronavirus, holding weekly facebook live events to update the people on what was going on.(7) Restrictions started to loosen in late April, and by mid May things are mostly back to normal. The day most restrictions ended, May 14th, the government announced a $50 billion recovery package. Schools, businesses, and even sports facilities were able to reopen safely. The health authorities also deemed it safe to allow gatherings of up to 100 people by late May.(8) It seemed as though New Zealand had managed to eradicate COVID-19 from its shores, and although there has been another small outbreak the country is doing much better than most other places in the world.
Jacinda Ardern is New Zealand’s 3rd female prime minister and was the world’s youngest head of government at the time of her inauguration in 2017. In the past few months multiple news outlets ran stories about how female led countries seem to be doing better than male led countries using Ardern as a key example. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic women leaders have tended to put a focus on preserving human life, acting quickly to shut down their borders.(9) There is not enough information to make a decisive claim, but it is still interesting to consider why female led countries may be handling the pandemic better. David A. Bell, the essay-ist who first observed the trend, posits that female leaders are combining “public empathy with political skills and technocratic know-how” instead of relying on strongman/victory mentality which treats the coronavirus pandemic as a war to win.(10) Another theory is that the female leaders themselves are not the reason for a better response but that if a nation that is forward thinking enough to elect a woman as a head of state it is less likely to have a body politic willing to put short-term economic stability over human lives.(11) Ardern’s strategy of prioritizing citizens and her initial quick and cautious reaction to Coronavirus has paid off for New Zealand.
The Labour party platform says “The best economic response to COVID-19 was a strong health response, and the results speak for themselves.”(12) Because most things in New Zealand have been able to return to basically normal their economy is in better shape than most places in the world. Still unemployment has risen to a high for this century, at nearly 10%, but New Zealand has put in place a thorough economic recovery plan.(13) In order to create jobs the Labour party made apprenticeship and trade programs free, started infrastructure initiatives with projects around the country, placed a special focus of sustainable energy projects, and created 11,000 “jobs for nature” that focus on maintaining the environment as they work towards their goal of 100% reliance on renewable energy by 2030.(14) Already 78% of the nation’s energy comes from hydroelectric power plants and other renewable sources.(15) No government can be a perfect democracy, but by continuing to strive to create a stronger nation New Zealand is demonstrating their ongoing commitment to democratic ideals.
Although not directly related to Coronavirus, this administration’s emphasis on Maori relations and breaking down systematic barriers shows the same prioritization of the people that they demonstrated with their health response. Under the Labor party New Zealand is putting more emphasis on the long neglected Maori community and working towards making sure that Maori interests are fully represented in the historically very white parliament.(16) Inclusiveness, meaning the number of people who are able to participate in government, is one of the two key factors in Robert Dahl’s definition of democracy: as a nation gets more inclusive and as it creates more room for public contestation the stronger a democracy becomes.(17) By starting an office of Maori Crown Relations and channeling funding into reforms,(18) the Labour party is showing how even though they are already one of the most equitable and stable democracies in the world they want to do better.
The people are pleased with their government. Public opinion polls taken regarding the upcoming election rank Ardern’s popularity at 54% while the opposition candidate has 18% support.(19) In many Western countries (like France, Sweden, the US, and Germany to name a few) populist parties have been gaining traction and political polarization has been on the rise. New Zealand on the other hand is more united than ever and the populist party “New Zealand First” might not win any parliamentary seats in the upcoming October election.(20) Due in part to the Labour party’s success in dealing with Corona, this election may be the first since the reorganization of the New Zealand government in 1995 that one party will have a straight majority in parliament– allowing the Labour party to dissolve the coalition that it currently has with the Green Party and New Zealand First.(21) Seymour Lipset theorizes that countries “which are high on the scales of both legitimacy and effectiveness, will clearly have stable political systems” because by filling the basic needs of their citizens they gain the trust and support of the people.(22) The case of New Zealand, and the Labour party in particular shows that a strong democracy that looks out for its people is profitable. A government that cares for its people is self stabilizing.
The thing that stands out about New Zealand’s government’s Coronavirus response is its dedication to the people. The administration currently in power has shaped their policy around saving lives rather than preserving economic interests, which would up being economically prudent in the long run. The Labour party platform is built around creating a more equitable and sustainable future for all citizens– they are still striving to perfect their democracy even though it is already more functional than most in the world.
Endnotes
1 Susan Strongman, “Covid-19 Pandemic Timeline.”
2 Pannett, “New Zealand Has Just One Remaining Case of Coronavirus.”
3 “New Zealand,” Freedom House.
4 Strongman, “Covid-19 Pandemic Timeline.”
5 Rachel Pannett, “New Zealand Has Just One Remaining Case of Coronavirus.”
6 “Our Policies.” New Zealand Labour Party, 2020.
7 Damien Cave, “Jacinda Ardern Sold a Drastic Lockdown With Straight Talk and Mom Jokes.”
8 Pannett, “New Zealand Has Just One Remaining Case of Coronavirus.”
9 Amanda Taub, “Why Are Women-Led Nations Doing Better With Covid-19?”
10 David A. Bell, “Why Female Leaders Are Faring Better than ‘Wartime Presidents’ against COVID-19.”
11 Taub, “Why Are Women-Led Nations Doing Better With Covid-19?”
12 “Our Policies.” New Zealand Labour Party, 2020.
13 Cave, “Jacinda Ardern Sold a Drastic Lockdown With Straight Talk and Mom Jokes.”
14 “Our Policies.” New Zealand Labour Party, 2020.
15 “The World Factbook: New Zealand.” Central Intelligence Agency.
16 “Our Policies.” New Zealand Labour Party, 2020.
17 Robert Dahl, Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition, 7.
18 “Our Policies.” New Zealand Labour Party, 2020.
19 Praveen Menon, “New Zealand’s Ardern Seen Cruising to Victory as Election Contest Heats Up.”
20 Ibid
21 Ibid
22 Seymour Martin Lipset, “Some Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic Development and Political Legitimacy,” 9.
Bibliography:
Bell, David A. “Why Female Leaders Are Faring Better than ‘Wartime Presidents’ against COVID-19.” Fortune, August 20, 2020. https://fortune.com/2020/08/20/women-female-leaders-vs-wartime-president-trump-jacinda-ardern-angela-merkel-covid-19-coronavirus/
Cave, Damien. “Jacinda Ardern Sold a Drastic Lockdown With Straight Talk and Mom Jokes.” The New York Times, May 23, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/23/world/asia/jacinda-ardern-coronavirus-new-zealand.html?auth=login-email&login=email
Dahl, Robert. 1972. Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. New Haven: Yale University Press. Chapter 1.
Lipset, Seymour Martin. 1959. “Some Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic Development and Political Legitimacy.” American Political Science Review 53(1): pp. 69-105.
Menon, Praveen. “New Zealand’s Ardern Seen Cruising to Victory as Election Contest Heats Up.” Reuters, September 22, 2020. https://www.reuters.com/article/newzealand-election/nz-ruling-labour-party-support-drops-in-poll-but-still-seen-winning-idINKCN26D0LL
“New Zealand.” Freedom House, 2020. https://freedomhouse.org/country/new-zealand/freedom-world/2020
“Our Policies.” New Zealand Labour Party, 2020. www.labour.org.nz/policy
Pannett, Rachel. “New Zealand Has Just One Remaining Case of Coronavirus.” The Wall Street Journal, May 31, 2020. https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-zealand-has-just-one-remaining-case-of-coronavirus-11590917539
Strongman, Susan. “Covid-19 Pandemic Timeline.” Radio New Zealand, October 8, 2020. https://shorthand.radionz.co.nz/coronavirus-timeline/
Taub, Amanda. “Why Are Women-Led Nations Doing Better With Covid-19?” The New York Times, May 15, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/15/world/coronavirus-women-leaders.html “The World Factbook: New Zealand.” Central Intelligence Agency, February 1, 2018. www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/nz.html
Kathryn Olsen
I really enjoyed reading your article. At the beginning of the Coronavirus outbreak I remember hearing about how well New Zealand was doing and I was drawn to your article because I never looked further into their success and wanted to learn more about it. Hearing how well they reacted to the virus makes me have an intense desire for our country to have reacted in a similar fashion, it also makes me jealous in a way, especially when I hear that they are almost back to normal. I would support a full lockdown if it meant that we could come much closer to an end of this, but I think that it would be faced with extreme backlash by those who don’t support it and I find it very unlikely that everyone would follow the orders. I have a deep respect for how the leaders of New Zealand and its citizens handled the pandemic. I also loved to hear that the Prime Minister is a woman and was the World’s youngest head of government at the time of her inauguration. The fact that cases have started to emerge again in New Zealand scares me about the future of the virus. If a country that has done so well to get rid of the virus starts to see cases again, will it ever stop spreading in countries that don’t have nearly as strict restrictions?
Ekaterina Harding
This is a very interesting topic to talk about. New Zealand is absolutely a wonderful country. I have been a big fan of it for great number of years. The way the country responded to COVID-19 is also impressive and could be a great example to the United States. The key word here is “could”. First of all, I totally support the idea of having more female politicians, but I don’t think that gender is matter that much in this case. Please, mind that I am not a supporter of president Trump and his ideas of how things need to be done in this country. Not at all. But to win the battle with pandemic quickly and effectively you need to be competent, smart and territorially small. It is easier for New Zealand to protect their borders and economy as they’re very separate and from the rest of the world physically and economically. When was the last time you’ve had a product of any kind in your hand labeled as “made in New Zealand”? I bet an average kiwi (that’s how people from NZ call themselves) had something “made in USA” in their hands today. The import and export of these two countries is something what shouldn’t be compared. America is dependent on its export and it is impossible to stop all the factories and shipping without a critical damage to the country’s economy. Different strategies need to apply here. And as we see, whatever strategies were applied were not effective yet. Unfortunately, this is where the large country loses. The population of the United States is 328.2 million and NZ 4.886 million which is nearly twice less than the population of New York state. So, this it the first thing. To be more accurate with such a compartment we should compare New Zealand to states of Alabama, Kentucky or Louisiana. And then put any of those to a separate island with no physical border with any other countries of states. Only then we can compare without being bias. And secondly, America shares the continent with Mexico and Canada. Formally borders between countries aren’t close. It is difficult but still possible to travel these days which is definitely makes the situation worse. And of course, people still travel across the states and the country. If we could actually close all the borders for a period of time, that might be very effective. But come on, some people still against wearing masks… What we really need here in the United States right now is a great leadership, and example to citizen no matter what gender they are.
Caroline Allen
This was a great article Diana! It does always hurt a little though to read about what could have been with the US COVID response. We always knew what steps we needed to take to stop the spread and save lives and yet here we are.
I do wonder about the correlation between a successful COVID response and democracy. Non-democratic places like Singapore, Hong Kong, even China have had far more successful responses than the US. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on this, but—beyond geographic factors like population or income—I think success with handling COVID may be more correlated to cultural trust in experts and science and/or a stronger social contract and trust in government. Or just the brute authoritarian power to shut everything down. The strong social contract and trust in government might be more common in a democracy—particularly an inclusive, well-functioning one like NZ—but it also just isn’t there in deeply polarized, gridlocked democracies like the US.