How Can Local Governments Get Out Of The Tacitus Trap In Public Health Emergencies

At present,COVID-19 epidemic is spreading in more than 210 countries and regions,which has attracted great attention from countries and organizations around the world.The sudden COVID-19 epidemic is a global disaster.It has not only threatened people’s lives,health and safety,disrupted the normal operation of all areas of national governance,but also had a significant impact on the credibility of local governments,the main body of governance in the epidemic prevention and control process.In the face of external stimulus factors of global public health emergencies,the level of government credibility plays an important role in the formulation,improvement and implementation of government behavioral measures.Based on the responsibilities of the government’s public administration,we need to earnestly sum up the experience and lessons,form an effective response mechanism,and solve the core problems.The research center of this paper is: Under the specific background of major public health emergencies,this paper takes "Tacitus trap" theory as the theoretical perspective,to make a thorough analysis of how should local governments respond to major public health emergencies,and how to rebuild public credibility to get out of the Tacitus trap,basing on the fact that Wuhan Municipal Government once fell into and successfully get out of the Tacitus Trap.In the early stage of the epidemic,in the face of information confusion,the Wuhan government,which quickly fell into the "Tacitus Trap",cleared up the wrong understanding in time and made the information more open,transparent and timely.During the development period of the epidemic,the Wuhan government took the interests of the people as its principle and actively rebuilt the public trust of the local government through major personnel adjustment.During the stable period of the epidemic,the Wuhan government faced the reality and took the responsibility actively.With the confidence and determination to win the battle,it withstood the crisis and test,quickly walked out of the "Tacitus trap",and solved the credibility crisis,providing valuable experience and lessons for other local governments.This paper takes Wuhan municipal government as an example to discuss the credibility of local government governance under public health emergencies.First of all,the author retrospectively analyzes the deep reasons why Wuhan government fell into the "Tacitus Trap",which mainly includes the following three aspects : First,the allocation of authority of central and local authorities in the early warning mechanism;Second,the symptoms of bureaucracy exposed by local governments in the face of emergencies;Third,information chaos to the local government brought about internal and external crises.On the other hand,the author discusses how to repair the credibility of local governments through forward-looking analysis,which mainly includes five aspects:First,to improve China’s public health early warning system by improving the early warning response speed of infectious diseases,setting up multiple information early warning channels,strengthening the risk early warning forms such as "unknown causes" and "abnormal health events",and ensuring the openness and transparency of the early warning process;Second,to improve the level of leading cadres and cure the symptoms of bureaucracy,we should promote cadres from different levels,accelerate the construction of public health personnel,and comprehensively improve the decision-making ability.Third,strengthen the authority of all-dimensional official media,intervene in the authenticity of social media and the correctness of public opinion orientation,and build a new media integration communication mode;Fourth,the irreplaceable advantages of social organizations should be utilized to provide citizens with opportunities to participate in public affairs and strengthen the in-depth cooperation between grass-roots governments and social organizations.Fifth,more experts’ opinions should be heard in public communication and decision-making to strengthen the independent voice of professional institutions.People often say,"If something goes to the government," which shows that the public’s trust in government has a broad social base.However,it is also greatly influenced by individual events.To do a wrong thing affects the whole image of the government.China is a country with large regional differences and strong local customs.Good government credibility is the guarantee for the construction of national governance system.The author believes that through this public health emergency,we have summed up the experience of the construction of government credibility and government governance ability.It is as follows: by speeding up the improvement of shortcomings and weaknesses,strengthening the ability to deal with emergencies,guiding a healthy public opinion,improving the information communication channels between the government and the public,and strengthening effective management methods,only in this way can we successfully build a government credibility system suitable for China’s basic national conditions.The paper puts forward reasonable suggestions in the above aspects,and expects to contribute more academic strength to better promote the modernization of national governance after the epidemic in the first year of the 14 th Five-Year Plan.