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What drives support for social distancing? Pandemic politics, securitization, and crisis management in Britain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2021

Georgios Karyotis Open the ORCID record for Georgios Karyotis [Opens in a new window] ,
John Connolly Open the ORCID record for John Connolly [Opens in a new window] ,
Sofía Collignon Open the ORCID record for Sofía Collignon [Opens in a new window] ,
Andrew Judge Open the ORCID record for Andrew Judge [Opens in a new window] ,
Iakovos Makropoulos Open the ORCID record for Iakovos Makropoulos [Opens in a new window] ,
Wolfgang Rüdig Open the ORCID record for Wolfgang Rüdig [Opens in a new window]  and
Dimitris Skleparis Open the ORCID record for Dimitris Skleparis [Opens in a new window]
Georgios Karyotis*
Affiliation:
University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
John Connolly
Affiliation:
University of the West of Scotland, Glasgow, UK
Sofía Collignon
Affiliation:
Royal Holloway, University of London, UK
Andrew Judge
Affiliation:
University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Iakovos Makropoulos
Affiliation:
University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland
Wolfgang Rüdig
Affiliation:
University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland
Dimitris Skleparis
Affiliation:
Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
*
*E-mail: Georgios.Karyotis@glasgow.ac.uk
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Abstract

Support for social distancing measures was, globally, high at the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic but increasingly came under pressure. Focusing on the UK, this article provides a rigorous exploration of the drivers of public support for social distancing at their formative stage, via mixed methods. Synthesizing insights from crisis management and securitization theory, thematic analysis is employed to map the main frames promoted by the government and other actors on the nature/severity, blame/responsibility, and appropriate response to the pandemic, which ‘follows the science’. The impact of these on public attitudes is examined via a series of regression analyses, drawing on a representative survey of the UK population (n = 2100). Findings challenge the prevailing understanding that support for measures is driven by personal health considerations, socio-economic circumstances, and political influences. Instead, crisis framing dynamics, which the government is well-positioned to dominate, have the greatest impact on driving public attitudes.

Keywords

COVID-19crisis managementpublic attitudespolitical behavioursecuritization
Type
Research Article
Information
European Political Science Review , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , November 2021 , pp. 467 - 487
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of European Consortium for Political Research

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