Coronavirus Politics

Short impact summary

Coronavirus Politics offers a comprehensive, comparative analysis of global COVID-19 policy responses, integrating insights from public health, political science, and social science. Published by University of Michigan Press in 2021 and accessible via Fulcrum, it has generated significant scholarly uptake with 156 citations and public visibility evidenced by 200 notable events, predominantly from Wikipedia. The book’s examination of political and health system interactions positions it as an influential resource for understanding pandemic governance worldwide.

Full narrative

Released in 2021 by University of Michigan Press and hosted on Fulcrum, Coronavirus Politics addresses the unprecedented global crisis of COVID-19 through a multidisciplinary lens. Editors Scott L. Greer and colleagues curate contributions that span political science, public health, law, and sociology, reflecting the book’s broad conceptual framing including political science, public health, and social science labels. This richness allows it to dissect not only health interventions but also their social and political underpinnings, situating the pandemic within comparative policy and political contexts.

The book’s scholarly impact is demonstrated by its 156 citations tracked in OpenAlex, indicating that it has informed ongoing academic discussions. Its 67 citation contexts reveal a predominance of neutral mentions (65) with some supporting references (2) and no contradictions, suggesting it serves primarily as a foundational or contextual resource rather than a provocative or contested work. Notably, its role as an evidence-bearing reference is moderate, with a strength score of 0.4, highlighting its growing but measured contribution to the evidence base in pandemic research.

Coronavirus Politics also shows strong public visibility and usage, evidenced by a total of 9,060 downloads concentrated on Fulcrum and 200 tracked non-citation events. Of these, 194 events originate from Wikipedia, which underscores the book’s influence in public knowledge and educational domains. The presence of newsfeed events, albeit fewer (6), points to some media engagement. This dual scholarly and public footprint reflects the book’s relevance beyond academia, informing broader societal understanding of COVID-19’s political dimensions.

Conceptually, the book intersects diverse fields such as global health, political science, psychiatry, and public administration, aligning with its goal to explore COVID-19’s multifaceted impacts. The inferred roles analysis confirms a well-rounded reception with strength scores near 0.8 for usage-driven uptake and public visibility, and 0.75 for scholarly uptake. This triangulation of metrics affirms that the book is an influential reference for both specialist audiences investigating pandemic politics and wider publics seeking to comprehend ongoing policy debates.

While the book is openly accessible and indexed in the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) with an open access license, data on OER platform listings and OAPEN downloads are absent, limiting a full assessment of its open educational resource impact and usage pattern over time. Nonetheless, the available evidence strongly supports its position as a key text illuminating the political and public health challenges posed by COVID-19 globally.