Intergovernmental Conflicts in a Time of Pandemic: State and Municipality Power Struggles in the United States and Brazil

Abstract This article examines the issue of overlapping and competing responsibilities and competences that arose in the United States and Brazil, following the COVID-19 global emergency of 2020. It considers the way in which the diffusion of power within both federal systems generated intergovernmental conflict and the extent to which the differences in federal design shaped the way in which these conflicts could be managed and resolved.