Leadership Characteristics and Coronavirus Rates
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"This paper examines the characteristics commonly associated with and analyzed regarding leadership in times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Reviewing the qualities and features typically associated with leadership allows social scientists to study what factors help influence an individual's perceptions of their leaders' actions as crises initially unfold, play out, and ultimately conclude. According to recent literature, variables such as a leader's gender, race, and partisanship should significantly impact a leader's course of action and effectiveness when managing a public health crisis. However, when it came to the early stages of the COVID19 pandemic in the U.S., our study found that these variables made little to no difference in limiting the number of coronavirus cases on a state-by-state basis, disproving what previous literature would have suggested. When it came to analyzing the data regarding individuals in positions of power such as a state's governor, state house leader, senate leader, and health officer, the results displayed that there was almost no correlation between the individual's gender and race that resulted in a lower number of coronavirus cases and deaths within their states. Therefore, this study disproves previous literature, data, and analysis regarding the impact and importance of the role of leadership."