Policy Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic and Potential Outcomes in Central and Eastern Europe: Comparing the Czech Republic, the Russian Federation, and the Slovak Republic

Němec, Juraj; Malý, Ivan; Chubarova, Tatiana

doi:10.1080/13876988.2021.1878884

Cited by 16 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Just like the spread of COVID-19 and pandemic policy responses have varied across countries [2,6,27], one can see how the nature of the political system plays a vital role in how each country faces and addresses the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. Indeed, Chen et al [33] and Nemec, Maly and Chubarova [34] established an association between the political system and policy responses to the COVID-19 crisis in their cross-country analysis. The former found that fiscal policy responses to the pandemic were significantly greater in highly democratic countries compared to less democratic countries, while the latter found that countries with a democratic system were more successful in the first wave than countries with an authoritarian regime.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in COVID-19 Policies and Income Distribution: A Cross-Country Comparison

2023

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This paper looks at the distribution of disposable income by deciles to indicate how specific mitigating measures have influenced income groups and considers the effectiveness of different combinations of containment measures in the European Union. Simulations using the EUROMOD tax-benefit microsimulation model imply that the mitigating effects of the simulated measures are regressive, with a bigger influence on the bottom part of the income distribution. It is also observed that old democracies benefit from these measures more than new democracies. Surprisingly, our results further reveal that for the two highest decile income groups, the COVID-19 containment measures are stronger in new democracies. Finally, a qualitative comparative analysis of 19 EU countries suggests that each country should apply mixes of containment measures that fit its own context. Although there is no one-size-fits-all policy, old democracies seem more successful at handling the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis than new democracies. This study complements the literature as it shows how COVID-19 measures have influenced household income groups, and second, it adds to earlier studies by clarifying that only specific context-dependent combinations of containment measures are successful at preventing the loss of people’s living standards, thereby giving policymakers the necessary leeway to formulate effective policies.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in COVID-19 Policies and Income Distribution: A Cross-Country Comparison

2023

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“…In the CEE region, the Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe (NISPAcee) think tank organized activities connected to the topic of 'the capacity to govern'. These activities included a high-level meeting titled 'The Capacity to Govern in Central and Eastern Europe', held in Prague on December [18][19][20]2003, under the auspices of the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Vladimír Špidla, and the 11 th NISPAcee Annual Conference in Bucharest, Romania, in 2003, under the heading 'Enhancing the Capacities to Govern: Challenges Facing the CEE Countries'.…”

Section: Capacity To Governmentioning

confidence: 99%

"‘Non-Standard’ Political Parties and the Capacity to Govern in Turbulent Times: Slovakia 2020–2022"

MALÝ,

NEMEC

2023

TRAS

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This article evaluates whether the failures of the two coalition governments that presided over Slovakia between March 2020 and September 2022 should be connected primarily to the two crises of the investigated period (COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine), or whether other critical factors were involved. Our findings highlight the limited performance of public administration in Slovakia and the very limited capacity of both governments to govern during the selected period. We confirmed that the coalition governments were created from ‘non-standard’ political parties, and the leadership was problematic. We do not insist that these factors are interrelated, but the possibility should be the focus of further research.

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“…A few weeks later, the dream appeared to have come true, with COVID-19 almost eradicated on Slovak territory and with international reports celebrating Slovakia's success (Beblavý 2020;Walker and Smith 2020). Moreover, the executive response in the first wave of the pandemic was also assessed as an achievement by academics (e.g., Guasti 2021;Nemec et al 2021), though with more cautionary references due to the 'questionable restrictions of some civil rights' (Klimovský and Nemec 2021, p. 2).…”

Section: The Case Of Slovakia: No Country For Weepersmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Extreme Right as a Defender of Human Rights? Parliamentary Debates on COVID-19 Emergency Legislation in Slovakia

Steuer

2022

Laws

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, the protection of public health became a political priority worldwide. Slovakia’s COVID-19 response was initially praised as a global success. However, major rights restrictions were introduced in spring 2020, with some of these endorsed by the parliament. This article uses = Rossiter’s and Schmitt’s concepts of the exception and Agamben’s distinction between life and survival to highlight the risks pertaining to the framing of the protection of public health as contradictory to human rights guarantees. It investigates how human rights were discussed by Slovak parliamentarians in relation to key legislation, that introduced a COVID-19 contact tracing app and allowed repeated prolongation of health emergencies by the executive with parliamentary approval. The findings indicate that democratic parliamentarians prioritized public health considerations framed in terms of security and effectiveness rather than rights, dissociating biological survival from political life. In contrast, extreme political actors became outspoken critics of emergencies, referring to human rights. As such, the deliberations represent a missed opportunity by democratic legislators to justify public health protection via a human rights lens and risk undermining democracy in Slovakia.

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Policy Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic and Potential Outcomes in Central and Eastern Europe: Comparing the Czech Republic, the Russian Federation, and the Slovak Republic

Cited by 16 publications

References 5 publications

Differences in COVID-19 Policies and Income Distribution: A Cross-Country Comparison

Differences in COVID-19 Policies and Income Distribution: A Cross-Country Comparison

"‘Non-Standard’ Political Parties and the Capacity to Govern in Turbulent Times: Slovakia 2020–2022"

The Extreme Right as a Defender of Human Rights? Parliamentary Debates on COVID-19 Emergency Legislation in Slovakia

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