COVID-19 and Public Policy in the Digital Age

Description

COVID-19 and Public Policy in the Digital Age explores how states and societies have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and their long-term implications for public policy and the rule of law globally. It examines the extent to which existing methods of protecting public safety and national security measure up in a time of crisis. The volume also examines how these ideas themselves have undergone transformation in the context of the global crisis. This book: Explores the intersection of public policy, individual rights, and technology; Analyzes the role of science in determining political choices; Reconsiders our understanding of security studies on a global scale arising out of antisocial behaviour, panic buying, and stockpiling of food and (in the United States) arms; Probes the role of fake news and social media in crisis situations; and Provides a critical analysis of the notion of global surveillance in relation to the pandemic.   A timely, prescient volume on the many ramifications of the pandemic, this book will be essential reading for professionals, scholars, researchers, and students of public policy, especially practitioners working in the fields of technology and society, security studies, law, media studies, and public health. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Preface Acknowledgements Chapter 1 Confronting contagion Surviving COVID Nationalism Geopolitics Restricting rights References Chapter 2 Science and power What is public policy? Policy and persuasion Playing God Public policy and science Is all knowledge scientific? Is it merely ‘the method’ that turns knowledge into science? Explanation versus ‘truth’ Are social sciences ‘objective’? Neutrality versus reality Shades of power Statistics can lie Numbers as an instrument of social control References Chapter 3 Law, rights, and public policy The impact on civil liberties The perception of restricted civil liberties Free speech and fake news Privacy and public safety Governments and fundamental rights References Chapter 4 The technology of information The genesis of mass surveillance Private profiling The computer revolution in surveillance and control Information technology and a panopticon society The growth of the technology of information The technology of profiling An empirical check A case study References Chapter 5 The politics of the pandemic Science and superstition The media The rule of law The courts Italy References Epilogue Index