9.N. Round table: The comparative politics and policy of Covid-19

Abstract

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented and turbulent mixtures of political, social, economic, and epidemiological forces. In this workshop the participant will be invited to interact & explore with panelists and other participants on how and why some countries have fared worse than other countries in addressing the threat of SARS-CoV-2, and in many cases fared far worse than expected. The objectives of the workshop are twofold: i) how & why different political systems that were put to the test engage and did what they did; ii) how health promotion in this pandemic play its role to ease the burden of populations. As of this writing, the pandemic is far from over. Therefore the added value of organizing this workshop is to help draw the many lessons that might need to be learned in a shared environment. The politics of COVID-19 during the pandemic warrant a multidisciplinary and multinational analysis. This knowledge can be useful as the world continues to fight COVID-19 and is equally important for thinking about other ongoing and future infectious disease pandemics and the role that health promotion can play. The round table will include 5 presentations intertwined with discussion grouped by geographical regions. The first presentation will launch the discussion on how The European Union Confronted COVID-19. The second will explore findings of the three approaches to handling the COVID-19 crisis in federal countries (e.g. Germany, Austria, and Switzerland). The third presentation will consider how peripheral countries managed their crisis (e.g. Portugal, Spain, and Italy). The fourth will look at how large countries dealt with the complexity of their territory and population diversity (e.g. Russian Federation Government Control during the Epidemic). Finally a theory-driven perspective on social justice and inclusion based on the salutogenesis approach will propose some discussion points as a take home message. This round table offers a forum for researchers, practitioners and policy-makers interested in policy analysis. By dialogue and two-way communication lively interaction and vivid discussions will be facilitated. This will allow discussing results regarding their benefit for improving policy research, practice, and policy-making, support further synergies, facilitate networking and collaboration, and support international capacity building Key messages Although COVID-19 is effectively unprecedented in the modern world, political systems responding to it need to move from hazard mitigating responses to comprehensive health promotion strategies. We need to maximize a salutogenesis approach since historical continuities, as well as novelties in dealing with pandemics are often political arenas of improvisation focusing the disease realm.