Health Policy Capacity and Reliance on Expert Advice in Comparative Perspective: COVID-19 Responses Across Brazilian States

Abstract

This paper compares subnational responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, examining how differences in health policy capacity shaped the incorporation of expert advice into policy agendas. While prevailing literature on crisis-driven policymaking emphasizes reliance on expert knowledge, this article’s findings nuance that relationship. Drawing on an original dataset of state-level measures and a mixed-methods design, the article demonstrates that higher-capacity states systematically integrated expert advice. In contrast, lower-capacity states resorted to heterogeneous informational sources. These patterns suggest that health policy capacity, shaped by prior trajectories of resource investment, plays a critical role in structuring policy agendas in response to complex crises.