Ethics and Expertise in times of crisis

Our project builds on this to map out a future for ethical knowledge making and policy advice which is fit for both crisis and ‘ordinary’ times. We do this through three international cases (Australia, Germany, UK), testing existing understandings of how ethics advice is organised institutionally, mapping organisational networks, interviewing key actors, documentary analysis and witness seminars. The research findings will inform lessons for policy learning through an advisory and impact group, and developing training and resources for policy makers.

Background

Governments are not currently following their own ethical advice during times of crisis, and we want to find out why, what this means for policy decision-making and ultimately, how this influences outcomes for citizens.The Covid-19 pandemic has brought these questions to the fore. National government strategies, public debate and public health outcomes have varied substantially. We examine the specific role of ethics advice in processes of crisis management, navigating expert knowledge, building organisational networks and policy learning in shaping these international differences, using a case study method to compare UK, Germany and Australia. How can government ethics advice be organised in the future to improve institutional capacity and agility, strategic thinking, pluralistic forms of expertise, and responsiveness to diverse publics?In October 2021, the UK’s independent Nuffield Council on Bioethics began to survey the ‘ecosystems’ of ethics advice in the UK, and leading ethicists in Germany have highlighted that key governmental lessons from the pandemic will only be learnt through considering new institutional arrangements. Australia developed an ethics framework to inform government decision-making relatively late during the pandemic. We investigate the similarities and differences between the institutional organisation of ethics advice in these 3 cases, addressing a key gap in basic empirical and comparative research on government ethics advice.

Aims and activities

Our research activities are guided by the following research questions:

1. How is ethical advice for governments is organized across different national contexts?
2. How are ethical dilemmas navigated by experts and publics?
3. What is known about how and which ethics advice is used by governments in times of crisis?
4. What can be learned from this to support value-based judgments in policy decision-making? 

Our approach

Our analysis of the cases is informed by methods from Science and Technology Studies and Political Sociology. We have developed a novel framework of criteria by which to identify and interpret a typology of international varieties in how ethical advice is organised institutionally. We do this by mapping the organisational networks through which ethics advice is provided within the three national cases based on web searches and interviews with key organisations, actors and global bioethics observatories. Comparing organisational networks in the UK with those in Germany and Australia allowed us to explain the different policy processes and outcomes which stem from fragmented vs centralised, spontaneous vs organised, conservative vs experimental, principle-based vs deliberative, embedded vs independent ethics advice.

Methods

The project is producing an archive of documentary material from bioethics advisory bodies, government advisory committee reports and parliamentary enquiries, and online platforms. We use discourse analysis methods to examine how ethics advisory organisations set the remit of ethics, at what moments and by what speed they respond to calls for advice, and how they interact with both science advice bodies, perceived public opinion and lobbying groups.The project has organised three national ethics workshops using the innovative method of witness seminars to generate historical testimony and narrative evidence on our research questions. Finally we have convened an international advisory and impact group for the duration of the project to develop key recommendations to support decision-making for policy makers.

The Ethics, Evidence and Policy Network has been created by the Ethics & Expertise research team to connect policymakers, researchers and others interested in embedding ethics into policymaking. The network is informal and aimed at building skills and knowledge.

The network will:

• Share relevant events, best practice, and publications once a quarter.
• Provide opportunities for input into development of tool on embedding ethics in policymaking.
• Built partnerships and provide opportunities for collaboration for future projects and research.
• Provide space for peer learning and interaction through newsletters, occasional meetings, and a LinkedIn group.

Member of the network will:

• Connect to like-minded international community.
• Be the first ones to know about our research outputs, relevant updates and events.
• Shape the design of decision-making tools for policymakers.

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