Public economics

Pathology

Aerospace engineering

Obedience

Voluntariness

Government (linguistics)

Disease

Compliance (psychology)

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Infectious disease (medical specialty)

Intersection (aeronautics)

Politics

Algorithm

Engineering

Philosophy

Political science

Management

Psychology

Economics

Turnover

Law and economics

Coercion (linguistics)

Enforcement

Computer science

Linguistics

State (computer science)

Medicine

Social psychology

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Significance This paper makes three contributions. First, it provides insights from Germany on people’s agreement with policy choices that all countries face in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. My findings point to dimensions relevant for policy makers when deciding between voluntary as opposed to enforced measures. These insights include the essential role of trust in government. Second, the paper contributes to the small but important literature on the intersection of policy design, state capacities, and the interplay of obedience and voluntary compliance. Third, my finding that even 30 y after reunification those who have experienced state coercion in East Germany are less control-averse concerning anti–COVID-19 measures than West Germans contributes to the literature on endogenous preferences and comparative cultural studies.

Enforcement may crowd out voluntary support for COVID-19 policies, especially where trust in government is weak and in a liberal society