southern europe in the covid-19 pandemic: the first phase

This book investigates the fast-learning experience of Covid-19’s initial onset in a region long renowned for low state capacity, political polarisation and weak health systems. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of South European Society and Politics.

Juan Rodríguez-Teruel is Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Valencia, Spain. His research focuses on executives, ministers and political parties. He recently co-edited Digital Parties. The Challenge of Online Organisation and Participation (2021). He is founding editor of the Spanish political website ’Agenda Pública’.

José Real-Dato is Associate Professor at the University of Almería, Spain. His current research focuses on the use of expert knowledge in public policy making. He was principal researcher of the project Impact of Specialised Knowledge on the Design and Adoption of Public Policy in Spain and is currently director of the project Policy Analytic Capacities in Regional Public Administration in Spain: Mapping, Assessing, and Explaining.

Susannah Verney is Associate Professor of European Integration and European Politics at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She served as Editor of South European Society and Politics (with Anna Bosco) in 1999-2023. Her most recent book (co-edited with Anna Bosco) is The Politics of Polarisation: Conflictual Competition in Italy, Spain and Greece (Routledge, 2022).