Pandemic Lockdowns: A Political Science Perspective
22 Pages Posted: 9 Aug 2020
Date Written: August 4, 2020
Abstract
Pandemic lockdowns are just one of many instruments used to fight the coronavirus. But they are important and have a clearly political character. Part I of this article highlights some of the parallels existing between pandemics and politics, both from a national and an international perspective. Part II is an effort to formulate a lockdown definition, associated with three basic features and suggesting a spectrum classifying basic lockdown types. Part III and Part IV, based on the concepts defined, examine the lockdowns practiced by Italy, Switzerland, the United States, and, in a much more limited fashion, by the European Union.
Keywords: Lockdowns, pandemic, politics, Italy, Switzerland, United States, European Union
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