IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/palcom/v9y2022i1d10.1057_s41599-022-01344-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An evaluation of North Carolina science advice on COVID-19 pandemic response

Author

Listed:
  • Jessica Weinkle

    (University of North Carolina Wilmington)

Abstract

This qualitative case study contributes to the international research project EScAPE (Evaluating Scientific Advice in a Pandemic Emergency) and aims to understand how state leaders mobilized science advice in pandemic response during 2020 and into the early months of 2021. North Carolina, a state in the southeastern United States, mobilized much of its pandemic science advice through the state’s Department of Health and Human Services. A fluid relationship between advisors and the governor—credited as a crucial component of a science driven, balanced pandemic response—created an opaque hub of advising and power. I analyze three advisory processes apparent during early stages of pandemic response noting strengths in mutual respect and trust between advisors and policymakers, data transparency, and commitment to equitable vaccine distribution. The interpersonal dynamics that provided these “good” science advice outcomes are a result of the individuals involved but the dynamic is not guaranteed in government over time. Also, while North Carolina provided data transparency it is unclear how data trends connected to decisions. There is a general lack of transparency around the breadth and content of advice. Transparency of advisory mechanisms is important to maintain public trust in government. Deep partisanship in the United States and distrust between leaders of opposing parties underscores the need for states to develop strong institutions for science advise to policymakers in an emergency. This article closes with several recommendations.

Suggested Citation

  • Jessica Weinkle, 2022. "An evaluation of North Carolina science advice on COVID-19 pandemic response," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-16, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:9:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-022-01344-9
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-022-01344-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-022-01344-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41599-022-01344-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daniel J. Elazar, 1990. "Opening the Third Century of American Federalism: Issues and Prospects," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 509(1), pages 11-21, May.
    2. Kyle R. Myers & Wei Yang Tham & Yian Yin & Nina Cohodes & Jerry G. Thursby & Marie C. Thursby & Peter Schiffer & Joseph T. Walsh & Karim R. Lakhani & Dashun Wang, 2020. "Unequal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on scientists," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 4(9), pages 880-883, September.
    3. Sibel Eker, 2020. "Validity and usefulness of COVID-19 models," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(1), pages 1-5, December.
    4. Jennifer M. Jensen, 2017. "Governors and Partisan Polarization in the Federal Arena," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 47(3), pages 314-341.
    5. Peter Gluckman, 2014. "Policy: The art of science advice to government," Nature, Nature, vol. 507(7491), pages 163-165, March.
    6. Marleen Easton & Jasper Paepe & Phoebe Evans & Brian W.Head & Jennifer Yarnold, 2022. "Embedding Expertise for Policy Responses to COVID-19: Comparing Decision-Making Structures in Two Federal Democracies," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 309-326, June.
    7. Andrea Saltelli & Gabriele Bammer & Isabelle Bruno & Erica Charters & Monica Di Fiore & Emmanuel Didier & Wendy Nelson Espeland & John Kay & Samuele Lo Piano & Deborah Mayo & Roger Pielke Jr & Tommaso, 2020. "Five ways to ensure that models serve society: a manifesto," Nature, Nature, vol. 582(7813), pages 482-484, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dominika Bhatia & Sara Allin & Erica Ruggiero, 2023. "Mobilization of science advice by the Canadian federal government to support the COVID-19 pandemic response," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-20, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Magdalena Gil & Constanza Hurtado-Acuna & Máximo Quiero-Bastías & Marigen Narea & Alejandra Caqueo-Urízar, 2023. "Unequal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on researchers: evidence from Chile and Colombia," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Sarah Shandera & Jes L Matsick & David R Hunter & Louis Leblond, 2021. "RASE: Modeling cumulative disadvantage due to marginalized group status in academia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(12), pages 1-20, December.
    3. Ewa Małgorzata Szepietowska & Ewa Zawadzka & Sara Filipiak, 2022. "Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Sense of Gains and Losses during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An International Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-19, March.
    4. Ourania Tzoraki & Svetlana Dimitrova & Marin Barzakov & Saad Yaseen & Vasilis Gavalas & Hani Harb & Abas Haidari & Brian P. Cahill & Alexandra Ćulibrk & Ekaterini Nikolarea & Eleni Andrianopulu & Miro, 2021. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Working Conditions, Employment, Career Development and Well-Being of Refugee Researchers," Societies, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-13, July.
    5. Lu, Xuefei & Borgonovo, Emanuele, 2023. "Global sensitivity analysis in epidemiological modeling," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 304(1), pages 9-24.
    6. O’Connor John, 2022. "Strengthening the science–policy interface in Ireland," Administration, Sciendo, vol. 70(4), pages 29-52, December.
    7. Gregory Hill & Steven Kolmes & Michael Humphreys & Rebecca McLain & Eric T. Jones, 2019. "Using decision support tools in multistakeholder environmental planning: restorative justice and subbasin planning in the Columbia River Basin," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 9(2), pages 170-186, June.
    8. Kathryn Oliver & Annette Boaz, 2019. "Transforming evidence for policy and practice: creating space for new conversations," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-10, December.
    9. Timothy P. Johnson & Mary K. Feeney & Heyjie Jung & Ashlee Frandell & Mattia Caldarulo & Lesley Michalegko & Shaika Islam & Eric W. Welch, 2021. "COVID-19 and the academy: opinions and experiences of university-based scientists in the U.S," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-7, December.
    10. Adriana Báez & Muhammed Y. Idris & Kimberly Lawson & Mohamed Mubasher & Yulia Strekalova & Keith Green & Priscilla Pemu & Jonathan K. Stiles & Martiza Salazar & Alexander Quarshie & Lee S. Caplan & Er, 2023. "Impact of COVID-19 on the Research Career Advancement of Health Equity Scholars from Diverse Backgrounds," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-11, March.
    11. Rastko Jovanović & Miloš Davidović & Ivan Lazović & Maja Jovanović & Milena Jovašević-Stojanović, 2021. "Modelling Voluntary General Population Vaccination Strategies during COVID-19 Outbreak: Influence of Disease Prevalence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-18, June.
    12. Constantin Bürgi & Klaus Wohlrabe, 2022. "The influence of Covid-19 on publications in economics: bibliometric evidence from five working paper series," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(9), pages 5175-5189, September.
    13. Nicholas R. Magliocca, 2020. "Agent-Based Modeling for Integrating Human Behavior into the Food–Energy–Water Nexus," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-25, December.
    14. Anja Bauer & Leo Capari & Daniela Fuchs & Titus Udrea, 2023. "Diversification, integration, and opening: developments in modelling for policy," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 50(6), pages 977-987.
    15. Kyle R. Myers, 2022. "Some Tradeoffs of Competition in Grant Contests," Papers 2207.02379, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2024.
    16. Alba Antequera & Daeria O. Lawson & Stephen G. Noorduyn & Omar Dewidar & Marc Avey & Zulfiqar A. Bhutta & Catherine Chamberlain & Holly Ellingwood & Damian Francis & Sarah Funnell & Elizabeth Ghogomu , 2021. "Improving Social Justice in COVID-19 Health Research: Interim Guidelines for Reporting Health Equity in Observational Studies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-12, September.
    17. Robinson W Fulweiler & Sarah W Davies & Jennifer F Biddle & Amy J Burgin & Emily H G Cooperdock & Torrance C Hanley & Carly D Kenkel & Amy M Marcarelli & Catherine M Matassa & Talea L Mayo & Lory Z Sa, 2021. "Rebuild the Academy: Supporting academic mothers during COVID-19 and beyond," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(3), pages 1-11, March.
    18. Brad M. Barber & Wei Jiang & Adair Morse & Manju Puri & Heather Tookes & Ingrid M. Werner, 2021. "What Explains Differences in Finance Research Productivity during the Pandemic?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 76(4), pages 1655-1697, August.
    19. Ioannidis, John P.A. & Cripps, Sally & Tanner, Martin A., 2022. "Forecasting for COVID-19 has failed," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 423-438.
    20. Mark Quigley & Jeremy D. Silver, 2022. "Science advocacy in political rhetoric and actions," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 462-476, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:9:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-022-01344-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.nature.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.