Territorial Politics and COVID: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

As part of a broader research program on the federal governance of COVID in Spain, this systematic literature review centers on the nexus between territorial politics and the coronavirus crisis. It analyses 300 publications in the Web of Science Core Collection from 2018 to 2023 through the PRISMA method. The paper contains three sections. The first one reports that these items were published during a very short period by a limited number of authors and universities supported by public funds. The article stresses the importance of federal architecture by highlighting the debate on recentralization, the weight of intergovernmental relations to guarantee policy efficiency, and the dilemma of policy instruments and intersectoral action. Finally, the review points out the significance of politics during the pandemic, exemplified by the rise of polarization, the role of central leadership, and the upsurge of a new cleavage centered on COVID.