Centralization or decentralization: what works best against pandemics? Which one has proven to be the most effective strategy during the past few months?
In an online debate co-hosted by the Centre for Contemporary Studies (CETC) and the Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia (DIPLOCAT), experts on the territorial politics Nicola McEwen, Francesco Palermo, Mireia Grau and Johanna Schabel exchanged views on the topic and analysed the way United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Spain have dealt with the coronavirus crisis. The discussants focused on the role of sub-state entities in the COVID-19 context, especially in the idea of cooperation between central and regional governments in multi-level governance political systems. The panellists agreed that the coronavirus crisis has shown that political systems are more centralized than they look on paper. They also stressed the importance of the political culture to analyse and understand the COVID19 institutional response in each country. Marc Sanjaume, political scientist and professor at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, moderated the debate.
Watch the debate here: https://youtu.be/g19qDoW70y4