Keep your distance

What portion of Americans support a national quarantine to contain COVID-19?

1. How accurate was your prediction?

2. What most surprised you about this data?

3. What question do you have about this data or topic? Write your question in the comments section below and I’ll answer it ASAP!

4. What exactly is a quarantine anyway?

5. My small sized southern city is under a stay-at-home order, which is just a nice term for quarantine. Is your state, city, or county under a quarantine, and if so what is it like?

6. And what would a national quarantine be like?

7. What story does the data tell?

8. Why do you think that is?

9. What is one consequence of this?

10. How does party identification impact views on a national quarantine?

11. Why do you think that is?

12. How does age impact views on a national quarantine?

13. Why do you think that is?

14. What portion of President Trump supports a national quarantine to contain COVID-19?

15. How do you explain such a big difference between what the public wants and what President Trump wants regarding a national quarantine?

16. Do you personally support a national quarantine?

17. Could the national government even order a national quarantine if it wanted to?

18. Who can order quarantines in the US?

19. What does the way we quarantine in the United States tell us about American federalism?

20. Explain whether federalism is the most effective form of government during a pandemic, war or other crisis.

21. What would the framers have thought about a national quarantine directed by the president?

22. In Federalist No. 70 Alexander Hamilton wrote, “Energy in the Executive is a leading character in the definition of good government. It is essential to the protection of the community against foreign attacks; it is not less essential to the steady administration of the laws; to the protection of property against those irregular and high-handed combinations which sometimes interrupt the ordinary course of justice; to the security of liberty against the enterprises and assaults of ambition, of faction, and of anarchy.” What do you think he meant by that?

23. Do you generally agree with Hamilton’s statement about presidential power?

24. Imagine that Alexander Hamilton came back to life (please!) and wrote (please make it a rap!) about the coronavirus pandemic and presidential powers. Based on his writing in Federalist No. 70, what do you think Hamilton would say? (The more rhyming, the better!)

25. Apart from declaring a national quarantine, describe how the president could try to influence governors and mayors to declare or un-declare state or citywide quarantines?

26. List some of the Article II constitutional powers the president can use in the time of a national crisis like the current coronavirus pandemic?

27. In general, describe the position a liberal and a conservative would take on national quarantines.

28. Explain why those positions might change in the middle of a crisis.

29. Let’s say that you were an American citizen who really wanted there to be a national quarantine, what actions could you take that would be most likely to result in achieving your policy preference?

30. Describe how a citizens’ wealth would impact their ability to change policy?

31. Sometimes public opinion isn’t directly reflected in public policy. Describe some ways that public opinion can be stymied by the political system.

32. Do you think this pandemic will generally strengthen or weaken the power of the federal government?

33. Look at the data in the chart below* and describe what story the data tells us about social distancing.

34. How do you explain the story from the chart below*?

Visual Extension*

You will find more infographics at Statista

Learning Extension

Read this Vox article about American’s views of quarantine?

Action Extension

Contact Congress and let them know what you think about a national quarantine.

• Locate your U.S. senators' contact information.

• Find your U.S. representative's website and contact information.

Video Extension

Warning, the video below contains disturbing imagery. The video is not from a hospital in China, or Italy , or Spain but in New York City, the richest city in the richest nation in the history of the world.