Bureaucratizing Epidemics: The Challenge of Institutional Bias in the United States and Brazil” for Consistency Purpose


Eduardo J. Gómez

This paper examines the politics of government response to health epidemics in the United States and Brazil. Using a global structural approach, it explains why, despite their various similarities, Brazil has been a bit better at responding to both sexually transmitted (STDs), while the U.S. has been better at responding to non-STDs, such as the specter of avian flu and bioterrorism. The paper closes with a discussion of why democracies are biased in the types of epidemics they respond to and what this means for democratic equality and commitment to its citizenry.