Responding to COVID-19: Government Action, Government Rhetoric, and Public Trust

Whether aimed at containment or mitigation, all measures for combatting the COVID-19 epidemic rest on the cooperation of European publics with their national authorities, and hence on the publics' responsiveness to government action. This project aims to analyse public responsiveness to governmental activity during the COVID-19 crisis and identify its determinants. To this end, we will construct a new dataset containing information on governmental substantive and rhetorical actions in the context of the COVID-19 crisis and analyse their impact on public compliance and attitudes. By evaluating the factors that moderate the public response to government action related to COVID-19, this project will provide important information to policymakers on population’s acceptance of public health measures. It will also enrich our theoretical knowledge of political communication, specifically on the crisis of political trust that people fear we are observing in Europe today.