Pandemic Lockdowns: A Political Science Perspective

22 Pages Posted: 9 Aug 2020

See all articles by Jürg Martin Gabriel

Jürg Martin Gabriel

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich - Center for Comparative and International Studies

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

Suggested Citation

Gabriel, Jurg Martin, Pandemic Lockdowns: A Political Science Perspective (August 4, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3667210 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3667210

Jurg Martin Gabriel (Contact Author)

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich - Center for Comparative and International Studies ( email )

ETH-Zentrum - SEI
Zurich, 8092
Switzerland

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