Buying time for democracies? European Union emergency politics in the time of Covid-19

Truchlewski, Zbigniew ORCID: 0000-0003-3594-4290, Schelkle, Waltraud ORCID: 0000-0003-4127-107X and Ganderson, Joseph ORCID: 0000-0002-5775-6349 (2021) Buying time for democracies? European Union emergency politics in the time of Covid-19. West European Politics, 44 (5-6). 1353 - 1375. ISSN 0140-2382

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Abstract

Successive crises in the European Union have led critics to identify a pervasive tendency to emergency politics, where democratic deliberation gives way to policy decisions forced through by executive authority. By contrast, in this article it is argued that crises may stimulate deliberation and compromise, even when preceded by open conflict and an evident collective action failure. Drawing on a new dataset of 1759 policy-related actions covering the EU and its member states’ responses to COVID-19 between March and July 2020, the timing, sequencing and origins of policy claims and steps are traced. Both urgent epidemiological responses are found, where emergency measures were in evidence; and responses to anticipated economic challenges that had to overcome disagreement concerning necessary institutional reforms. The findings depict a multifaceted crisis response. The European Commission acted swiftly but also bought time for member state governments to deliberate. This casts doubt on the many-crises-one-script account of EU emergency politics.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/fwep20/current
Additional Information:	© 2021 The Authors
Divisions:	European Institute Economics
Subjects:	J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe) R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology
Date Deposited:	14 Apr 2021 13:48
Last Modified:	20 Dec 2024 00:41
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/109870

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