Does cooperation with multiple actors diffuse the government’s responsibility in the implementation of COVID-19 measures?

Abstract

To manage the COVID-19 pandemic, the Japanese government has cooperated with multiple actors, such as experts, prefectural governments, and medical professionals, who generally attract limited attention in non-crisis times. While cooperation with such actors allows the central government to mobilize knowledge and utilize resources it does not have, such collaboration could diffuse the responsibility of COVID-19-related measures onto other actors. To empirically test this conjecture, we conducted an online survey experiment prior to the 2021 Japanese general election. It investigated whether the government’s cooperation with experts, prefectural governors, medical professionals, and the International Olympic Committee obscured its responsibility in the declaration of stay-at-home advisories, securing of beds, and conducting of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. The results deliver no evidence that informing people of the influence of any actor diffused the government’s responsibility for the implementation of COVID-19-related measures. The findings of this study imply that the Japanese people held the national government accountable even during the COVID-19 pandemic.