Exploring the Role of Adaptive Capacity on Democratic Performance (ERAC-DP): Governmental and Nonprofit Organizations in the Pandemic

本研究项目运用多门社会科学的方法和比较分析的方法，研究新冠肺炎应对政策如何能够加剧不平等、促进民主治理以及弱势群体的政治参与。该研究项目将回答四个问题：(I)在新冠肺炎大流行期间，弱势群体出现了哪些不平等？(2)组织适应能力如何影响弱势群体的结果？(3)适应能力如何影响弱势群体的政策遵守情况？以及(4)哪些数字工具将促进持续的合作(国内和国际)，以加强全球和地方行动，以减少不平等和提高政策遵从性？这项研究基于来自亚特兰大、佐治亚州、蒙特利尔、加拿大、英国曼彻斯特和波兰华沙的案例研究，并结合了几个社会科学领域的理论和丰富的数据收集和分析。这一研究项目的结果将有助于回答重要问题，即为什么群体受到旨在帮助所有人的政策的不同影响，以及为什么不同群体的政策遵守情况可能不同。本研究使用加拿大、波兰、英国和美国四个国家的嵌入式案例研究，研究新冠肺炎大流行政策如何影响不平等，以及这如何影响不同群体的政治积极性和政策反应。具体地说，该项目将试图回答四个问题：(I)新冠肺炎疫情期间出现了哪些不平等现象？(2)适应能力如何影响弱势群体的结果？(3)适应能力如何影响弱势群体遵守政策？以及(4)哪些数字工具将促进持续协作，以加强全球和地方行动，以减少不平等和提高政策遵从性？这项研究将使用一种结合了几个社会学和行为科学理论的方法来回答这些问题。除了学术研究外，私人投资促进局建议让不同的政策制定者参与，以改善研究项目的政策影响。通过解决政策对不平等和政治参与的影响，本研究项目将对一般政策影响的社会学和行为科学研究做出重大贡献。这一研究项目的研究成果将为减少不平等以及加强政治参与的政策提供投入。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This research project uses methods from several social sciences and comparative analysis to study how COVID-19 response policies can increase inequality, foster democratic governance, and political participation of vulnerable people. The research project will answer four questions: (i) what inequalities emerged for vulnerable populations during the COVID-19 pandemic? (ii) how did organizational adaptive capacities affect outcomes for vulnerable populations? (iii) how did adaptive capacities affect policy compliance of vulnerable populations? and (iv) what digital tools will facilitate a sustained collaboration (domestic and international) to enhance global and local action to reduce inequities and increase policy compliance? The study is based on case studies from Atlanta, GA, Montreal, Canada, Manchester, UK, and Warsaw Poland and uses a combination of theories from several social science fields and rich data collection and analyses. The results of this research project will help to answer important questions as to why groups are differentially affected by policies designed to help all and why policy compliance may differ across groups. The results could guide policy formulation and implementation during pandemics and other emergencies.This research uses embedded case studies in four countries---Canada, Poland, UK, and the US---to study how COVID-19 pandemic policies affected inequalities, and how this in turn affected political activism and policy responses of different groups. Specifically, the project will try to answer four questions: (i) what inequalities emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic? (ii) how did adaptive capacities affect outcomes for vulnerable populations? (iii) how did adaptive capacities affect policy compliance by vulnerable populations? and (iv) what digital tools will facilitate sustained collaboration to enhance global and local action to reduce inequities and increase policy compliance? The research will answer these questions using a methodology that combines theories from several social and behavioral sciences. In addition to academic research, the PIs propose to engage diverse policy makers to improve the policy impact of the research project. By addressing the impact of policies on inequality and political participation, this research project will make significant contributions to social and behavioral science research on policy impacts generally. The research results of this research project will provide inputs into policies to reduce inequalities as well as enhance political participation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.