Having originated in Wuhan China, the COVID-19 pandemic has spread to every continent and country within four months of its emergence, infecting more than 12 million people and killing more than 550,000 as of July 12, 2020. To make things worse, researchers have yet to develop either a vaccine or an effective treatment remedy. In less than four months, the current COVID-19 pandemic has developed into a ‘transboundary crisis’; a crisis where ‘the functioning of multiple, life‐sustaining systems, functions, or infrastructures is acutely threatened and the causes of failure or courses of redress remain unclear’ (Boin and Hart 2003, 548).
The COVID-19 pandemic is not only the largest global health crisis, but also a crisis that reaches all spheres of our political systems. We are interested in the political implications of this crisis, defined largely in this special issue. Theoretical and empirical papers are welcome. We will only consider single-country studies, where they substantively advance our understanding of the global dynamics and effects of the crisis. The following is an indicative list of topics:
- What does the COVID-19 crisis tell us about effective crisis management?
- What are the differences and similarities in the approach to dealing with COVID-19 among governments of different ideologies, structures and compositions?
- What do different types of citizens expect from their government in a global crisis?
- How are disinformation and misinformation manifesting during the crisis and what is their impact on the politics of COVID-19?
- What influence has COVID-19 had on the development of the international system?
- How has the crisis accelerated or slowed down international developments such as the spread of populism?
- How is this transboundary crisis influencing political preferences?
The special issue will consist of 8-10 papers, each 6000 to 8000 words long. We invite full paper submissions by September 15th, 2020. The papers will be pre-screened by the editors and then undergo an accelerated peer review process (ideally less than 1 month). The goal is to have the special issue published by the end of the year 2020. All formal requirements of regular IPSR papers apply: https://journals.sagepub.com/author-instructions/IPS
Papers should be submitted on Scholar One using the COVID-19 special issue designation at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ipsr
