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Bespoke scapegoats: Scientific advisory bodies and blame avoidance in the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond

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  • Roger Koppl
  • Kira Pronin
  • Nick Cowen
  • Marta Podemska-Mikluch
  • Pablo Paniagua Prieto

Abstract

Scholars have not asked why so many governments created ad hoc scientific advisory bodies (ahSABs) to address the Covid-19 pandemic instead of relying on existing public health infrastructure. We address this neglected question with an exploratory study of the US, UK, Sweden, Italy, Poland, and Uganda. Drawing on our case studies and the blame-avoidance literature, we find that ahSABs are created to excuse unpopular policies and take the blame should things go wrong. Thus, membership typically represents a narrow range of perspectives. An ahSAB is a good scapegoat because it does little to reduce government discretion and has limited ability to deflect blame back to government. Our explanation of our deviant case of Sweden, that did not create and ahSAB, reinforces our general principles. We draw the policy inference that ahSAB membership should be vetted by the legislature to ensure broad membership.

Suggested Citation

  • Roger Koppl & Kira Pronin & Nick Cowen & Marta Podemska-Mikluch & Pablo Paniagua Prieto, 2023. "Bespoke scapegoats: Scientific advisory bodies and blame avoidance in the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond," Papers 2310.04312, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2024.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2310.04312
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    1. Thomas Hale & Noam Angrist & Rafael Goldszmidt & Beatriz Kira & Anna Petherick & Toby Phillips & Samuel Webster & Emily Cameron-Blake & Laura Hallas & Saptarshi Majumdar & Helen Tatlow, 2021. "A global panel database of pandemic policies (Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker)," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(4), pages 529-538, April.
    2. Katarina Giritli Nygren & Anna Olofsson, 2020. "Managing the Covid-19 pandemic through individual responsibility: the consequences of a world risk society and enhanced ethopolitics," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(7-8), pages 1031-1035, August.
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