Abstract
The present policy brief draws from an empirical dissertation research, which took place during the outburst of the Covid-19 pandemic, in Athens, Greece. The main assumption of this interdisciplinary work is that Greek government’s Covid-19 emergency communication and crisis management approach (during the first wave of the pandemic) can be described by the Pragmatic Complexity Communication Model (PCOM), according to which communication involves an emergent complexity of reciprocal relationships and levels of interaction. This assumption is examined and validated through a qualitative research process, using an online open-ended questionnaire and focusing on a group of government officials and a group of correspondent journalists. The subsequent analysis also highlights the intimate links between government’s emergency communication (and crisis management) approach and the so-called “reformist culture”, that is, an extrovert, pluralist and anti-populist way of government, emphasising preparedness, collaboration, consistency, coordination, trust and community. This results in specific policy considerations and recommendations regarding governmental Covid-19 response in general.
Highlights
Growing systemic complexity and interdependence have made a large variety of systems susceptible to irreversible and cascading failure
The Covid-19 pandemic can be perceived as the widespread result of systemic properties, such as emergence, that is, a dynamical process whereby a situation arises through the local interaction of a number of actors and influences, without any intention to create that situation (Hynes, 2020)
Strategic communication processes are required to embrace the emergent complexity of reciprocal relationships and levels of interaction (Güler, 2012)
Summary
Growing systemic complexity and interdependence have made a large variety of systems (economic, public health, cyber, etc.) susceptible to irreversible and cascading failure. The Covid-19 pandemic can be perceived as the widespread result of systemic properties, such as emergence, that is, a dynamical process whereby a situation arises through the local interaction of a number of actors and influences, without any intention to create that situation (Hynes, 2020). The pandemic came unexpectedly in the West as a superspreader-driven “black swan”, an extreme fat-tailed process (Taleb, 2020) owing to an increased global connectivity. It seems that all national and supranational governments were unprepared for it, governing in principle pertains to strategic reflection and anticipation (Tufekci, 2020).
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