Introduction

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit federations and hybrid federations hard; towards the end of 2020 among the top 15 countries ranked according to mortality rates, 11 were federations. This book seeks to answer three questions: how federations responded to the pandemic – did they become more or less centralised? Second, how well (or badly) did federal systems perform in combating the pandemic? Third, will the way in which federations responded to the pandemic have long-term consequences for their federal systems? The questions are answered in respect of all the major federations of the world in the form of 19 case studies. Each chapter follows a common template which structures the narrative of each case study.