As the coronavirus spreads, federal, state, and local governments are wrestling with how to handle the crisis. So are civil associations, churches, businesses, and families. The role of civil society is often neglected, but it could be the most important.
Governments are useful in times of crisis. They can address particular problems on a scale that no one else can. There’s also the danger that powers consolidated by governments during crises won’t be given up when the crisis ends.
I am a minimalist when it comes to state power. Yet in an emergency—such as war, natural disaster, or pandemic—government does have an important role. But even here, the state’s role should be limited and leave plenty of room for civil society to act under its own volition. One could even say that's “the American way.”
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