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Public Organization Review

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10-05-2022

Embedding Expertise for Policy Responses to COVID-19: Comparing Decision-Making Structures in Two Federal Democracies

Authors: Marleen Easton, Jasper De Paepe, Phoebe Evans, Brian W.Head, Jennifer Yarnold

Published in: Public Organization Review | Issue 2/2022

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Abstract

The COVID-19 crisis focused attention on how experts from different scientific fields provided advice to governments through expert committees and task forces. We compared experiences in two federal democracies, Belgium and Australia, by applying a mixed methods approach (literature review, media review, policy documents analysis). This comparative study found that expertise was institutionalized in different ways and its processes and priorities shifted over time. The policy coordination challenges inherent in federalism were largely overcome in Australia through strongly embedded health advisory processes. In Belgium, the advisory process was less stable, with advisory councils being abandoned, replaced, expanded, or downgraded during the course of the crisis.

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Title: Embedding Expertise for Policy Responses to COVID-19: Comparing Decision-Making Structures in Two Federal Democracies
Authors: Marleen Easton
Jasper De Paepe
Phoebe Evans
Brian W.Head
Jennifer Yarnold
Publication date: 10-05-2022
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Public Organization Review / Issue 2/2022
Print ISSN: 1566-7170
Electronic ISSN: 1573-7098
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-022-00629-6

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