Abstract
This article examines coercive state responses during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic as one option among several types of state capacity that may be mobilised in times of crisis. While states respond to crises with their available capacity, strategies change over time, especially as deploying coercive capacities can be costly. We use variables from the CoronaNet Research Project, an original dataset of over 170,000 policy entries from 195 countries, including nearly 26,000 policies on Russia, to show timing and substitution effects where different types of state capacity were leveraged in different policy arenas and at different times in the pandemic.