The Case for Democracy in the COVID-19 Pandemic

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David Seedhouse Dr.. The Case for Democracy in the COVID-19 Pandemic

SAGE SWIFTS Series

The Case for Democracy in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Dedication

Contents

About the Author

Acknowledgements

Also by David Seedhouse

About this Book

1 Introduction

2 Searching for Balance

3 Imbalanced Dualities

4 Certainty and Uncertainty

Decisive Planning in Colossal Uncertainty

5 The Psychology

The Madness of Crowds

Attentional Bias

Confirmation Bias

The Dunning Kruger Effect

Groupthink

Social Amplification

Disproportionate Risk Perception

Hypothetical Example: Identify the Main Risk in These Circumstances

Is the Virus Running a Natural Course, Regardless of what Humans Do in the Attempt to Control it?

Real Example: The Consequences of Over-Inflated Risk Perception – Official Advice to Self-Isolate and Medical Emergencies in Children and Adults

Control Bias

People Like to Control Other People

The Stanford Prison Experiment

Social Justice Blindness

Further Biases

6 Guided by the Science?

Values Blindness

Is There A Public Health Imperative?

7 Steps towards a Wider Focus

Rational Field Blindness

An Example from the Pandemic: How Rational Fields can Begin to Explain Otherwise Inexplicable Behaviour

A SAGE Example?

The Focus and the Frame

The Speculation and the Evidence Just don't Fit

What is a Rational Field?

A Public Health Rational Field

An ‘Include the People’ Rational Field

8 Puzzling Charts

The Swedish Example

9 The Propaganda

The Politics

The Journalism

10 Animals

If you Ban Smoking you should Ban Meat Too

11 The Ethics

Public Health Non-Ethics

Cost, Benefit and Elderly Citizens

Informed Consent

Consent from an Individual

What is the Justification for Overriding a Fundamental Ethical Principle?

This is an Emergency

The Scale of Damage is Unprecedented

It is not Possible to Inform People Sufficiently

The Circumstances are Too Complex and Complicated for Citizens to Understand

Knowing the Truth would Bring about Worse Consequences

There is No Mechanism by which to Gain People's Consent

Paternalism is Acceptable

Utilitarian Considerations can and should Override Human Rights in Situations where the Public Health is Concerned

Human Rights

Ignoring Considered, Officially Sanctioned Ethical Advice

Ethical Intelligence

12 The Case for Democracy

Representative Democracy

Participatory Democracy

Possible Objections to Online, Deliberative, Participatory Democracy

USA Example: Citizen Voices on Pandemic Flu Choices

Similar Democratic Initiatives

Decide Madrid

Parlement Et Citoyens

The Icelandic Pirates

vTAIWAN

e-DEMOCRACIA

UK PARLIAMENT EVIDENCE CHECKS

e-Democracy in Bristol, UK

More Examples

Governments Must find the Political will for Meaningful Democracy and if they Can't, we Should Make Them

13 Conclusion. Public Health Promotion versus Foundational Health Promotion

The Society of Certainties versus the Society of Curiosity

Benefits to Build on

One Practical Suggestion: A Standing People's Forum for Deliberative Democracy

14 Postscript from the Madness of Crowds to the Wisdom of Informed People

July 20th

References

Index

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I want to live in a society where people are encouraged and supported to think for themselves. Where journalists see their work as not merely to report, or comment, but to educate and encourage reflection, rather than an instant emotional reaction. I want to live in a society where I can encourage others to grow. I want to live in a society where I can contribute and where there are ways where my views can count and can have an impact. I want to live in a society where quality of life is more important than clinging to the perch whatever the price. And I want to live in a society where there is real democracy, rather than the sham we are continually persuaded is the least-worst option (13).

What started out as a need to make sense of other people's decisions has slowly turned into a protest.

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