The Tanzanian state response to COVID-19: Why low capacity, discursive legitimacy, and twilight authority matter

Amy S. Patterson

No wp-2022-34, WIDER Working Paper Series from World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER)

Abstract: Tanzania received significant global attention for its COVID-19 response during the first year of the pandemic. It did not share pandemic statistics, require masks, implement lockdowns, or close borders; it questioned testing and vaccine efficacy; and it emphasized traditional medicines as a cure. The country's response reflected a centralized, paternalistic state that emerged under postcolonial president Julius Nyerere and that stressed self-reliance and national unity.

Keywords: Tanzania; Nationalism; State authority; State capacity; State legitimacy; Electoral authoritarianism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea
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