Policy expert available to discuss trust in government during the coronavirus crisis

Adam Wellstead, associate professor of public policy at Michigan Technological University, is available to speak to journalists about public trust in policymakers in the time of the novel coronavirus. Together with Paul Cairney, professor of politics and public policy at the University of Stirling, he has authored the "Who can you trust during the coronavirus crisis?" on Cairney’s blog.

Their article is based on a paper the team presented at the International Conference on Public Policy in 2019. Wellstead and Cairney analyze how people choose whom to trust and how their decision-making can affect whether governments in turn trust the populace to do the right thing. These days, that means if people choose to stay home to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 pandemic or whether governments must impose upon people (mandatory sheltering in place in San Francisco, for example).