A Conceptual Framework for Critical Analysis of Governmental Policies towards the Covid-19 Pandemic in Turkey

This study aims to develop a conceptual framework for the critical evaluation of public policies directed at the Covid-19 global epidemic. What gives inspiration to this effort is the policy choices of the Turkish public administration which deploys a classic disaster management practice against the pandemic. This study puts clear-cut differences between the management of natural disasters and of humanitarian crises by looking at their priorities, procedures, and objectives. These differences are categorized under the three main tasks of disaster/crises management as follows: administrative scale, risk mitigation/preventive measures, and priorities of emergency response. This effort seems to be building a conceptual framework for the evaluation of governmental pandemic policies. And then, fundamental characteristics of the Covid-19 pandemic are evaluated by applying this framework and the following results were obtained: The administrative scale of the epidemic cannot be fixed with a certain geographical location, as in disaster management. Secondly, preventive measures in the epidemic have to be planned as process management that comprehends the before and after the presence of the virus. Finally, the primary target of emergency response in the epidemic cannot be determined categorically. As a result, the Turkish Public Administration, which approached the global epidemic with classical disaster management, was faced with a complicated and unmanageable situation.