The Science of Politics How policymakers and experts failed the COVID test
Mar 19, 2025
Stephen Macedo, a political theorist focused on liberalism and democracy, and Frances Lee, a political scientist specializing in American politics, dive into the failures of COVID policymaking. They discuss how pre-pandemic plans were ignored and groupthink led to ineffective lockdowns. The duo highlights the costs that experts overlooked while suppressing dissenting views. They also examine the polarization that emerged during the pandemic and its long-term impact on public trust in expertise. Their insights warn of the dire consequences of ignoring alternative perspectives.
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Elite Groupthink Weakened Truth Seeking
- Stephen Macedo says elites showed groupthink, intolerance of dissent, and failed to learn from emerging evidence during COVID.
- He argues truth-seeking institutions like academia and science journalism underperformed in the crisis.
Pre-Pandemic Plans Warned Against Lockdowns
- Stephen Macedo documents that pre-COVID pandemic plans warned non-pharmaceutical interventions lacked strong evidence and had large social costs.
- He traces a cascade of copying China and Imperial College models that overrode prior skepticism.
Early Dissenters Warned Against China-Style Strategy
- Macedo cites dissenting epidemiologists like Michael Osterholm and Tom Frieden who warned in March that China's strategy was unlikely to work.
- He notes dissent faded as a strong elite consensus for lockdowns arose in April.