Emergency Rule: A New Paradigm for State and Local Governance?

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic led to an explosive growth in the use of emergency powers by officials at the state and local levels in the United States. Governors and mayors using emergency powers preceded the pandemic, but the scale and scope of the actions taken pursuant to such powers during Covid dwarfed those of prior instances. This essay suggests that Covid may have ushered in an increased normalization of the use of emergency powers. It offers and analyzes some recent examples thereof, and then assesses the normative implications of the increased use of emergency powers for local governance. The essay concludes that the unilateral nature of emergency powers undercuts the argument for local government rooted in the value of its participatory nature.