Unmasking the social policy responses of COVID-19 in four Southeast Asian Nations : institutional patterns and policy adjustment

Tauchid Komara YUDA*, Minah KIM, Aungsumalee PHOLPARK*, Hamzah Nor BIN AEDY RAHMAN

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal PublicationsJournal Article (refereed)peer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This article aimed to compare the social policy responses to COVID-19 in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand using an institutionalist’s perspective. So far, the crisis expanded social protection through temporary schemes, with rare reforms, and opened greater possibilities for future institutionalisation of new policies. We argue that the COVID-19 policy responses must be viewed as an unfinished agenda of expansion-driven policy responses to the 1997–1998 financial crisis. Still, these are different sets of measures from the previous crisis, which have been characterised by minimal systemic changes. The variegated responses of countries reveal hitherto unexplored policy implications for the Southeast Asian region.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)294-317
Number of pages24
JournalAsia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development
Volume32
Issue number4
Early online date8 Nov 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Bibliographical note

We thank two anonymous referees for their constructive feedback and helpful comments. We also thank Ku Yeun-wen and Chung-Yang Yeh for preparing this Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work & Development special issue. We want to acknowledge the institutional support of the Department of Social Development & Welfare, School of Social & Political Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Indonesia, and the Department of Society & Health, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mahidol University, Thailand.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Department of Social Work, National University of Singapore, Singapore.

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • Southeast Asia
  • Institutional continuity and change
  • Social policy
  • Policy response

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