Data, trust, democracy and Covid-19: the first parliamentary assessment of the UK government’s approach to data during the pandemic

Ferry, L.; Hardy, C.; Midgley, H.

Abstract

There is a challenge with the collection, storage, use and archiving of data by government, especially regarding upholding trust in democracy. A gap in our knowledge exists with the use of data during crises. To address that gap, this article considers the UK’s Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee’s (PACAC) report on data and transparency during the Covid-19 crisis. This affords an initial insight into how the UK government used data to legitimate policy and support implementation. The data connected the government to the governed in two ways. First, it enabled democratic accountability. Second, it also helped persuade citizens to act in ways that the government wished them too. As a result, this dual function of the data published made it even more important than normal for the government to fulfil its democratic objectives with data.

Citation

Ferry, L., Hardy, C., & Midgley, H. (2021). Data, trust, democracy and Covid-19: the first parliamentary assessment of the UK government’s approach to data during the pandemic. Public Money & Management, 41(8), 676-678. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2021.1946311

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 18, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jul 12, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021
• Deposit Date: Jun 21, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 20, 2021
• Journal: Public Money & Management
• Print ISSN: 0954-0962
• Electronic ISSN: 1467-9302
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 41
• Issue: 8
• Pages: 676-678
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2021.1946311
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1241141