Self-legitimation in the face of politicization: Why international organizations centralized public communication

International organizations (I0) have centralized their public communication to a large extent over recent decades by undertaking a broader codification of communication tasks as well as a departmentalization of these tasks within units of IO bureaucracies. The paper provides the first systematic analysis of this important development in institutional design using a novel data set on the organization of public communication in 48 IOs between 1950 and 2015. It identifies self-legitimation as a key driver of centralization in the face of increased levels of politicization, that is, public awareness and activism directed at IOs. Empirically, the study suggests that the centralization of public communication significantly increases as transnational civil society organizes and gains access to IO decision-making. Further, politicization in terms of contentious activism and public scandals substantially accounts for varying levels of centralization across IOs.     

The COVID-19 pandemic: some thoughts on integrity in research and communication

Principles of integrity and ethical practice in research have been reinforced and honed over decades. In medical and biomedical fields, they have been shaped by challenges that include endemic, emerging, and re-emerging diseases [1], as well as the scientific responses to each disease as it occurs. These responses include clinical and community prevention trials, vaccine and drug trials for persons with life-threatening diseases, applied and basic research with dangerous microbial agents, and many others. Unexpected fatal pandemics caused by novel agents—for which neither drugs nor vaccines exist— present additional urgent challenges for scientists, defined here to mean biomedical, medical, and public health scientists and practitioners. In addition to conducting research, scientists are also often tasked with communicating research findings, not only to those who make policy decisions, but also to the media and the public.