A Comparative Study of Public Health Governance Mechanisms and Performance in China and the United States During Routine COVID-19 Governance

Vollständiger Abstract

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As COVID-19 has entered the stage of routine governance, public health system development has gradually shifted from emergency response toward the strengthening of long-term governance capacity. This study compares public health governance mechanisms in China and the United States and examines the differences in governance performance between the two countries. Taking their public health governance practices during the routine COVID-19 governance stage as the research object, the study employs literature review, policy analysis, and comparative analysis to construct a three-dimensional analytical framework comprising organizational coordination, collaborative operation, and resource support. The findings indicate that China demonstrates strong institutional advantages in vertical organizational coordination, resource integration, and overall mobilization, whereas the United States has developed practices that provide useful reference in public health data standardization, cross-agency interoperability, and digital governance. Public health governance performance is not the direct result of any single governance measure but depends on whether organizational coordination, collaborative operation, and resource support can achieve effective and institutionalized coordination. On the basis of consolidating its strengths in centralized coordination, organizational mobilization, and resource integration, China may selectively draw on useful experience from the United States in data governance and digital infrastructure development. Further efforts should be made to improve cross-departmental collaboration, information sharing, and support mechanisms, thereby strengthening the long-term governance capacity of the public health system, enhancing its ability to respond to major public health risks, and continuously improving long-term public health governance performance.