Populism in the times of COVID-19: Performing the pandemic?

Abstract

The COVID-19 Pandemic has substantially affected and changed the political landscape around the Globe. While some portray the pandemic as a challenge for populist parties and predict their decline, others remain skeptical and forecast increased support for populist parties in light of future economic consequences of the pandemic. Papers in this panel focus on an issue that in general is of low salience for most populist parties: public health. However, populist parties have often responded to the pandemic by criticizing established parties for their lockdown measures to fight the pandemic and often allied with supporters of conspiracy theories about COVID-19. Therefore, this panel invites contributions that analyze the impact of populism on understanding political behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Potential research questions could be: How have populist parties responded to the COVID-19 Pandemic? Or how does populism affect citizens’ attitudes toward COVID-19 policies?

Title	Details
Whose Blame Undermines Support for the Government: Populists, Experts, or Oppositions	View Paper Details
Pandemic politics and the populist voter	View Paper Details
Who’s to Blame? Framing “Them” During the COVID-19 Pandemic	View Paper Details
Party competition during COVID-19: Issue dimensions and populism in the European Parliament	View Paper Details