Using Metaphors in Public Policy: Analyzing the COVID-19 Pandemic via War and Game Metaphors

In public policy analysis, perceptions are as important as facts. Humans have been using metaphors for centuries to understand different dimensions of phenomena better. This article identifies and analyzes discourses that include metaphors used during the COVID-19 pandemic within the public policy context. The analysis focuses on the discourses that include metaphors in evaluations of current policies during the pandemic in different countries. This highlights how metaphorical language rhetorically shapes responses and broader policy justifications in times of crisis. The discourses, including war and game metaphors, are identified and analyzed through content analysis. The data were identified and examined using the Google search engine and “Newspaper Source Plus” with a purposive sampling technique collected between April 2020 and April 2022, during which the effects of the pandemic were distinctly visible. Newspaper articles were the primary source of data. In-depth analyses of 16 newspaper articles, which include discourses from various actors (heads of state, ministers, politicians, and policy experts), are conducted. Results revealed a series of complex relationships between these metaphors that frame and represent complex problems. Policy actors also employ metaphors in their discourses that simultaneously justify current pandemic policies across different countries.