Pandemic response credit-claiming and blame-avoidance in France

Abstract

Abstract Credit claiming led in France during the first wave to centralization and during the summer to decentralization. During the second wave, blame-avoidance led again to centralization. First wave: In the spring, the French government attempted to take credit by centralizing the crisis governance but soon faced mounting criticism from the population, health care professionals and members of the political opposition. These initial missteps prompted legislators to set up two parliamentary inquiry commissions. Complaints were filed against several members of government, including former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and former Health Minister Agnès Buzyn. In July, Phillipe was replaced by Jean Castex, who was tasked with designing France's reopening strategy with greater attention to regional needs. Summer: The government's response to Covid-19 significantly changed during the summer. The government's failure to put in place a critical triptych of testing, tracing and isolation and to contain the spread of the virus led to a recentralization of the crisis governance and a second national lockdown in late October. Second wave: Although the first lockdown was deemed “necessary” by most French people, implementation of stringent measures was less accepted by the population after a resurgence of cases at the end of the summer. As France entered a third lockdown in late March 2021, Macron's popularity rate fell 4 percentage point from a month earlier. According to an IFOP poll, 37% people said they were satisfied with the president's management of the pandemic.