Introduction to the Special Issue on Political Participation in Post-Communist Europe during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic altered the functioning of societies and people’s behavior in many areas of daily life. Studies of political participation during the pandemic do not constitute an extensive body of research, focusing mainly on Western European countries. Under these circumstances, we know very little about political participation in post-communist countries during the pandemic. This special issue aims to understand the dynamics of political participation in post-communist Europe through both qualitative and quantitative analyses. It proposes several innovative concepts and analytical frames that can be used to understand who participated, why, and with what consequences. This topic has often been surrounded by discussions referring to empirical matters much more than around general arguments and theoretical explanatory models. One of the special issue’s aims is to enrich the theoretical debate about political participation in new democracies and transition countries during the pandemic.