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Welcome to the official home and wonderful world of Pulitzer Prize Winning Political Cartoonist Michael P. Ramirez, daily editorial cartoonist for the Las Vegas Review Journal |
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Covid-19 has no party allegiance.
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Coronavirus: trust in political figures is at a low just as they need citizens to act on their advice
March 11, 2020 8.49am EDT THE CONVERSATION Ben Seyd Public authorities across the world are facing the acute challenge of responding to the threat of the COVID-19 virus. Currently, the responses are taking two routes. The first is to throw money at finding a vaccination. The second is to contain the virus’s spread through measures ranging from encouraging basic hygiene to locking down towns and regions and shutting public places like schools. The problem for public authorities is that they are not in full control of either route. In autocratic countries such as China and Iran, people can be compelled to follow government diktats through fear of the consequences if they disobey. But, in democratic states, governments cannot control people in this way. Instead, they must rely on citizens being willing to heed the information and guidance offered by public officials. But how likely are citizens to accept official information when so many of them don’t trust politicians and governments? Trust in the United States government is at a 50-year low, while in many other democratic states, more people distrust their government than trust it. So we know that many citizens around the world already have precious little confidence in the integrity of public officials and the veracity of their words. In such a sceptical environment, official guidance often goes unheeded. A lack of trust has already led to parents in some countries to ignore official recommendations on vaccination, leading to a worldwide rise in cases of measles. People have also been shown to resist information on issues involving an element of risk – such as genetically modified food – if they distrust government and regulatory bodies. Choose the right messengerPeople often resist official information and guidance because they think it is biased and partial. Figures provided by government ministers are often suspected as reflecting hidden agendas or interests, rather than being seen as objective. Information provided by other, non-partisan, figures may be more readily accepted. Whereas only 26% of the British population trusts the government to be honest when presenting official statistics, this figure rises to 85% when information is provided by the independent Office for National Statistics. This suggests that one way to overcome public resistance to official guidance is to find credible sources to present the information. Clearly, given that just 14% of British people trust politicians, they are not the obvious candidates for this role. When it comes to deciding who might be more suited to the job, it’s worth noting that 84% of Britons profess to trust scientists and 93% to trust doctors. While politicians may need to present a public face to explain what steps are being taken – and face criticism if they are absent – people may more readily accept information and guidance if it comes from the mouths of independent scientists and medical experts. In the UK, there is noticeable enthusiasm towards the role of the chief medical adviser, Chris Whitty, as a spokesman for the government’s response. This puts paid to the assertion made in 2016 by Cabinet Office minister, Michael Gove, that people have “had enough of experts”. read more The Dave Sussman Show
Whiskey Politics
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