Comparing 31 European Countries’ Responses to the Covid-19 Crisis

Based on an author survey among the contributors to the preceding 31 country chapters, the conclusion summarises European governments’ responses to the pandemic by examining if variations in the handling of the pandemic reflect geographic South, East, North, and West cleavages. These cleavages largely correspond to different levels of affluence, economic distributional legacies, and democratic embeddedness highlighted as structural determinants of response patterns by the already substantial Covid-19 policy literature. Variations in the policy responses and dynamics of politicization are mapped and discussed. It is assessed which actors were empowered and disempowered in the policy process and if the mode of interaction between actors was altered compared to normal policymaking. Finally, the impacts on national political systems are appraised.