2020-2021 COMPAS Program: COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it a level of economic, political, and social disruption that is unprecedented in recent memory. CEHV's 2020-2021 COMPAS program will address a wide range of fundamental ethical and political challenges raised by this public health crisis.

The COVID COMPAS will focus on three broad areas of concern:

Health care. How should we balance public health concerns against concerns about liberty and privacy? What has the current crisis taught us about inequalities of access and affordability in the American health care system?
The economy. How much is a life worth? How should we ration risk? How should we balance the value of public health against other important values? What has the current crisis taught us about the strengths and vulnerabilities of an interdependent global economy?
Democracy. What is the proper role of expertise and emergency powers in a democracy? How has the pandemic impacted voting and voting rights? What has the current crisis taught us about the relative merits of federal vs. centralized systems of government, or of authoritarian vs. democratic regimes?

The COVID-19 pandemic has also given all of us a chance to reflect on how we live our lives and what kind of world we want to live in. In keeping with the COMPAS program’s mission of promoting informed and civil discussion of controversial public issues, all events will feature a variety of perspectives on the issues at stake.