Introduction

ABSTRACT

It was constantly claimed that politicians followed science during the Covid-19 pandemic. This suggests that they acted as public-interested individuals who took expert advice to protect public health and to promote the so-called "common good.” Another possible explanation of the pandemic decision-making is that they ignored science and simply acted in order to maximize their personal utility. This is in line with public choice theory which holds that politicians act as self-interested persons. On closer inspection, it is showed that the latter is the case and that the pandemic policy responses were at odds with science, served the interests of politicians and bureaucrats who were at the helm during that decision-making process while inflicting serious damage to the society by and large. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.