The Policy and Politics of Public Health in Pandemics

AbstractThe utility of political science insight and methodology for public health has become increasingly apparent in discussions over policy implementation. However, prior to coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), public health analyses undertaken within a political science paradigm focused primarily on how to mobilize decision-makers in order to bring about particular kinds of legislation or policy initiatives (policies on tobacco, alcohol, urban design, etc.). This chapter, written before the onset of COVID-19, suggested that it would be useful to use the lens of political science to understand pandemic planning, as the evidence-policy-politics nexus in public health differs substantially between the fields of health promotion and disease surveillance and response. Using the case of H1N1 in Nova Scotia, the chapter notes some of the political tensions that arose when decisions had to be made in the face of limited information, public pressure, and rapidly-changing circumstances.