Episode 18: COVID Stressors and Political Participation

The Practical Democracy Podcast. Featuring: Dr Luca Bernardi

What stressors did COVID-19 cause, and what was their impact on people's political participation?

Dr Luca Bernardi is a senior lecturer in politics at the University of Liverpool.

He and Ian Gotlib, a psychologist and professor at Stanford University, have been working on a piece of research analysing things like fear about one's health, financial worries, and restricted social contact, and their impact on how people feel about politics.

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The research so far has thrown up some fascinating findings and a few surprises. In this episode, Dr Bernardi talks about the project, how it was conducted and how COVID-19 has impacted the public's feelings of trust in government and other political behaviour.

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View the research

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February 27, 2026

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