The Blame Game and Backstage Politics

Abstract

Abstract This chapter focuses on the blame game in governing elite networks between ministers, chiefs of staff, special advisors, and senior civil servants. The authors refer to this elite group as ‘the court’. They distinguish between the ‘backstage’ politics of the court and ‘frontstage’ politics played out in the media spotlight, elections, parliament, and the TV studio. Section 2 of this chapter outlines an interpretative approach that focuses on the patterns of actions and beliefs and on the contingencies that bear down on the actions of governing elites. It describes the authors’ historical ethnographic method and the sources on which they have drawn. Section 3 presents a vignette of the COVID crisis in the UK, focusing on the blame game around Matt Hancock, the secretary of state for health and social care. Section 4 discusses what the vignette contributes to our understanding of the blame game and its many and significant consequences. Finally, Section 5 suggests that the chapter contributes to the analytical, methodological, and personal gaps in the study of blame.