Moss, G. orcid.org/0000-0003-3486-7748 and Konstantinova, N. (2024) Communicating solidarity? Public responses to UK government communication of COVID-19. Representation: Journal of Representative Democracy, 60 (3). pp. 415-433. ISSN 0034-4893
Abstract
This article explores public responses to UK government communication of COVID-19, focusing on public solidarity as a crucial part of an effective pandemic response. Drawing on focus group research with members of the public, we identify three limitations in the way solidarity was communicated by government. What solidarity meant and entailed was not always (1) clear and understandable, (2) adequately justified to all, or (3) demonstrated by the actions of political leaders themselves. In conclusion, we consider the implications of our analysis for how the communication of solidarity could have been improved. Beyond any specific communicative shortcomings, communicating solidarity was always bound to be difficult. What solidarity meant and entailed in the context of the pandemic was never normatively self-evident, especially given the different values and interests at stake. Given this, we suggest that a more deliberative-democratic approach to solidarity would have been both normatively desirable and more likely to be effective in sustaining solidarity. But the need for this approach reveals an underlying systemic weakness in the political-communication environment: the lack of adequate opportunities for those called upon to show solidarity to reflect on, contest, and shape its meaning.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. |
Keywords: | COVID-19; democracy; pandemic; political communication; public; solidarity |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Media & Communication (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number AHRC (Arts & Humanities Research Council) AH/V00865X/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 04 Oct 2023 15:10 |
Last Modified: | 22 Nov 2024 11:23 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/00344893.2023.2263465 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:203789 |
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