Gotcha! Coronavirus, Crises and the Politics of Blame Games
| Author | Matthew Flinders |
| DOI | 10.1177/2041905820933371 |
| Published date | 01 June 2020 |
| Date | 01 June 2020 |
22POLITICAL INSIGHT•JUNE 2020
Amongst the many uncertainties
posed by the COVID-19
pandemic we could always
be condent in making one
prediction. That the ‘COVID crisis’ would,
sooner or later, lead to an outbreak of
divisive and disruptive political blame
games as politicians, policymakers, advisers
and experts all sought to avoid carrying
the can for those decisions or opinions that
inevitably turned out to be wrong. Already,
in the UK and elsewhere, there are signs that
the political blame game is starting.
This article will explore the crisis and
Gotcha! Coronavirus,
Crises and the Politics
of Blame Games
Politicians are primarily motivated by avoiding blame for failure.
But what happens in a major crisis, when some level of failure is
inevitable? Matthew Flinders examines the politics of blame during
the COVID-19 pandemic.
the politics of blame, making three related
arguments. The rst is that governmental
responses to pandemics in the past have
generally been viewed through the lens of
policy failures rather successes. The second
argument is that politicians are well aware of
the fact that crisis management is a risky aair
and will therefore seek to utilise a number
of blame-avoidance and self-preservation
strategies. Although defending politicians is
beyond the scope of this discussion, the third
point is that too much accountability can be
as problematic as too little.
© Press Association
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting