The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Interactions of the Economic and Political Cycle in the Czech and Slovak Republics

Abstract

The global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was unprecedented for human society. On the one hand, it brought an authentic experience of the sudden collapse of the economic cycle, on the other hand, it tested the strength, credibility and management skills of governments. The slowdown in economic activity as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, forced quarantines and emergencies showed a number of differences and specifics between countries. These are, among other things, the result of different approaches of individual governments and their ability to solve the crisis. The primary goal of this article is to analyze the political dimension of the pandemic crisis. In connection with the hypothesis of the political economic cycle, we ask the question to what extent the pandemic crisis affected its mechanism. Has the pandemic crisis become a limiting factor in the concept of the political-economic cycle? In the context of the relevant phases of the political cycle of two institutionally close countries, we analyze and compare the approach of their governments (the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic) to solving the coronavirus crisis and examine whether governments can influence the performance of the economy in this extraordinary situation in accordance with the theoretical assumptions of the political economic cycle.