The political consequences of the Covid pandemic: The Covid-19 pandemic has had major political consequences. The balancing act of curbing the spread of the virus and re-opening the economy has been a particularly high-profile challenge for policymakers in recent months. This column explore the political costs of (mis-)managing the pandemic. The findings suggest that governments are punished in terms of political approval when Covid-19 infections accelerate, particularly in the absence of effective lockdown measures. Economic indicators, in contrast, do not appear to be strong predictor of political approval rates during this crisis.
