Populists dealing with experts and policy legacies: Social policies in Czechia and Slovakia during the Covid‐19 pandemic

Abstract The Covid‐19 pandemic presented an unusually complex challenge, particularly in the areas of social and health policy. A comparative analysis of policymaking during this emergency situation can help us better understand the factors influencing social policy development. Czechia and Slovakia make for a good comparison in determining what factors influenced social policy and health policy during the COVID pandemic. Since they previously formed the same country, they have many things in common, thus making for a classic “most similar case” design. Yet, the two countries have some interesting differences. In their healthcare policies, Slovakia was generally stricter than Czechia, and imposed harsher rules. However, when it comes to social benefits, Czechia was generally more generous than Slovakia. How can we explain these differences? We will base our argument on expert interviews with policymakers, as well as an analysis of the political discourse and the party‐electoral dynamics. We argue that the interaction of the following factors was important: policy legacies, electoral cycles and the political constellations of each country. After discussing our theory and methodology, we review the actual policies and results; then we analyse the reasons for the differences between the countries.