Populism and COVID-19: How Populist Governments (Mis)Handle the Pandemic

Abstract

The Journal of Political Institutions and Political Economy (JPIPE) will publish cutting edge work at the intersection of these two interrelated fields of study: Political institutions (systems of politics and government or structures of voluntary cooperation that resolve collective-action and coordination problems in society) and Political economy (interdisciplinary studies drawing upon economics, political science, and law to explain how political institutions, the political environment, and the economic system interact and influence each other).Concentrations in political institutions include: (1) studies of particular institutions, like legislatures, executives, judiciaries, interest groups, parties, and bureaucracies; (2) cross-institutional studies, which examine how multiple institutions interact; and (3) studies of system-level institutions and their effects, like constitutionalism, federalism, presidentialism, and parliamentarism. Concentrations in political economy include: (1) comparative political economy, which focuses on the role of governmental institutions and/or power relationships in resource allocation for each type of economic system, (2) international political economy, which analyzes the economic impact of international relations and legal regimes, and (3) formal models of political processes, wherein voters, representatives, and bureaucrats are assumed to behave in rational (self-interested) ways.

The Impact of COVID-19 on the Support for the German AfD: Jumping the Populist Ship or Staying the Course?

“…This goes especially for populists in government, who have seemingly mishandled the pandemic but are to a large extent still in office (Bayerlein et al. 2021 ). Therefore, our findings are only transferable to a limited extent.…”

The Three Faces of Populism in Power: Polity, Policies and Politics

“…In the near future, the pandemic will also need to be considered, and conceptualized, when looking at the consequences of populism's success. Michael Bayerlein et al (2021) have made an early attempt to understand the impact of populist governments on COVID-19 containment policies, suggesting that they have adopted less strict containment rules. In this respect, future research should investigate how COVID-19 has impacted on populist political leaders' communication and action, monitoring the evolution in terms of topics, features and sentiments.…”

Populism unrestrained: Policy responses of the Orbán regime to the pandemic in 2020–2021

“…12 Hungary was particularly late to introduce such measures during the second and fourth waves of the pandemic. Government reluctance to constrain economic activities could be explained by a preference to keep the economy running, whereas the loose Hungarian lockdown regime could be one important factor contributing to the very high Hungarian COVID-19-related death rate presented in the previous section (Bayerlein et al, 2021). 13 From a purely macroeconomic perspective, the relatively better Hungarian performance in aggregate output can be attributed to two key factors.…”