Beyond Representation in Pandemic Responses: Independent and International Institutions

The Covid-19 pandemic has seen the marked centralization and exertion of executive power, and, more broadly, a focus on the response of other elected organs. However, the pandemic has also shone a light on the key roles played by unelected independent institutions and international bodies, from public health actors to courts to international organizations and beyond. Constitutional INSIGHTS No. 8 explores the types of independent institutions that have shaped state action to suppress the virus, focusing on four principal functions: sources of expertise; implementation mechanisms; constraints on government action; and linkage actors mediating between the domestic, transnational and international spheres.