Interplay of institutional logics in legitimising state COVID-19 responses in Tanzania: analysis of newspaper reporting
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Date
2025
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Liverpool University Press
Abstract
Amid the global impact of the March 2020 COVID-19 outbreak, governments instituted measures to
manage the spread of the virus and needed to legitimise these responses to appear rational and appro-
priate in the eyes of citizens. We focus on Tanzania, which offers an example of a particular COVID-19
response of not having instituted lockdowns or other long-lasting movement restrictions. Drawing on an
institutional logics approach, and by conducting a content analysis of 738 newspaper articles in 2020
to 2022, we explore the kinds of logics through which the state legitimised diverse responses during
the pandemic and how these changed over time. Results show how the health and economic logics
manifested the most, but also state authority, state welfare, religion, traditional and science logics were
used. We further discuss the interplay between changes in the logics and in presidential regimes in the
midst of the pandemic.
Description
International Development Planning Review
Keywords
COVID-19 response, institutional logics, COVID-19 response legitimation, Tanzania, global pandemic governance
Citation
https://doi.org/10.3828/idpr.2025.14