Open AccessPolitics and corona lockdown regulations in 35 highly advanced democracies: The first wave
Author(s) -
Detlef Jahn
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
international political science review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.749
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1460-373X
pISSN - 0192-5121
DOI - 10.1177/01925121221078147
Subject(s) - veto , explanatory power , politics , democracy , relevance (law) , political science , political economy , power (physics) , pandemic , positive economics , covid-19 , sociology , economics , law , epistemology , medicine , philosophy , physics , disease , quantum mechanics , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty)
This article gives an initial overview of the explanatory power of established approaches in comparative political science of various lockdown strategies in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic in 35 democracies. In a macro-comparative statistical analysis of the first wave of the pandemic, I test partisan and veto player theories. I distinguish two phases of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, which show distinct patterns of political impacts. In the first phase of implementing lockdown strategies, central governments were relatively uncontested and partisan theory has strong explanatory power. In the second phase of lifting lockdowns, party differences lose relevance, but veto players have a strong influence during this time. The analysis shows that political science theories are useful for analysing political processes not only under normal conditions but also in extreme social crises. Moreover, it provides deeper insights into the democratic decision-making process of advanced democracies in exceptional situations.