Spain's response to COVID-19: regionalism, decentralization and coordination

• Grant number: 20/15011-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Effective date (Start): February 28, 2021
• Effective date (End): July 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Administration - Public Administration
• Principal Investigator: Elize Massard da Fonseca
• Grantee: Luísa Bolaffi Arantes
• Supervisor: Jacint Jordana
• Host Institution: Escola de Administração de Empresas (EAESP). Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Research place: Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Spain
• Associated to the scholarship: 19/25141-2 - Health policy and hepatites C response in comparative perspective, BP.MS

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is a great challenge for global public health, and it is testing health systems, evidencing, however, that state capacity is not enough to explain the countries performance in fighting disease. It is also necessary to analyze the "political capacity" to respond to epidemics. We are moving towards a consensus that the role of central governments and intergovernmental coordination are important in the fight against the epidemic that does not respect geographic borders. However, it is not yet clear how each country decides and operates centralization or decentralization and intergovernmental coordination. This research project aims to analyze the case of Spain, which initially chose to centralize its response to COVID-19. The Spanish context is not conducive to centralizing measures, due to regional conflicts, partisan disputes, and its highly decentralized National Health System. Assuming that the sequence of events is fundamental to explain social phenomena, this research aims to identify how coalitions of support and opposition to centralizing measures were built to respond to COVID-19 in this unfavorable context. This project aims to contribute to the growing body of studies whose aim is to understand how political institutions influence the response to epidemics and, in particular, COVID-19. (AU)