Do Elections Facilitate the Fight Against the COVID-19 Pandemic?
Do Elections Facilitate the Fight Against the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Summary/Abstract: Many countries around the world held elections during the Covid-19 pandemic. Although the topic of how the virus affected elections has been widely researched, the reversed question of how elections impact the way leaders respond to the pandemic has not drawn enough attention.This article aims to analyze whether elections facilitate or impede the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. By looking at both advantages and disadvantages, the paper finds that although elections can be efficient tools to keep politicians in check and can give incumbents who seek re-election higher incentives to provide an efficient response, elections can also foster increased polarization, political opportunism, and disinformation, weakening citizens’ trust in authorities and endangering the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

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