Southern Europe in The Covid-19 Pandemic: The First Phase (South European Society and Politics)

This book investigates the fast-learning experience of Covid-19’s initial onset in a region long renowned for low state capacity, political polarisation and weak health systems.

Covid-19, a global health emergency entailing a major existential threat, presented a crucial challenge for national governments and political systems. It elicited drastic policy measures, including unprecedented lockdowns. The question of how and why some states acted more effectively in facing this emergency situation has important implications for future crisis management. The outcomes varied greatly across countries, ranging from examples for emulation to dire portents of the consequences of losing control. Case studies of Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, and Turkey examine crisis preparedness, policy response, political dynamics and societal reception. A comparative overview chapter offers potential explanations for the divergence in national performance.

This volume will be of great use to students and researchers across the fields of European studies, political leadership, public policy, governance and public health. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of South European Society and Politics.

Juan Rodríguez-Teruel is Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Valencia, Spain. His research focuses on executives, ministers and political parties. He recently co-edited Digital Parties. The Challenge of Online Organisation and Participation (2021). He is founding editor of the Spanish political website ‘Agenda Pública’.

José Real-Dato is Associate Professor at the University of Almería, Spain. His current research focuses on the use of expert knowledge in public policy making. He was principal researcher of the project Impact of Specialised Knowledge on the Design and Adoption of Public Policy in Spain and is currently director of the project Policy Analytic Capacities in Regional Public Administration in Spain: Mapping, Assessing, and Explaining.

Susannah Verney is Associate Professor of European Integration and European Politics at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She served as Editor of South European Society and Politics (with Anna Bosco) in 1999-2023. Her most recent book (co-edited with Anna Bosco) is The Politics of Polarisation: Conflictual Competition in Italy, Spain and Greece (Routledge, 2022).