ABSTRACT
The monograph is the first attempt to systematically define and explain the behaviour of political actors in various contexts related to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Central European countries, to identify the similarities and differences between them, as well as the sources and results of these critical features. The introduction presents the purpose of the work, research hypotheses, research questions, a description of the research methods used in the book, the characteristics of individual chapters and the state of the literature. The introduction provides a conceptual framework for the essence of the crisis caused by the pandemic and shows how to study it in order to determine the hidden value of a qualitative variable, which is the management of restrictions in Central European countries, to explain the sources of similarities and differences between the behaviour of political decision-makers in individual countries, differences between public authority and citizens in the approach to the pandemic and to indicate the threats to human and civil rights, including corruption threats that appear along with the strengthening of political power during a pandemic.
