Out-of-Control COVID-19 Pandemic Hampers the Nationalism
| Published date | 01 May 2021 |
| Date | 01 May 2021 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1478929920973524 |
| Subject Matter | COVID-19: Pandemics, Global Politics and Societal ChallengesEarly Results |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1478929920973524
Political Studies Review
2021, Vol. 19(2) 294 –301
© The Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/1478929920973524
journals.sagepub.com/home/psrev
Out-of-Control COVID-19
Pandemic Hampers the
Nationalism
Aly Hiko and Austin Horng-En Wang
Abstract
Early studies show that the COVID-19 pandemic causes the rally-around-the-flag effect and
increases the level of nationalism among the voters after the outbreak. However, how long does
this boost last? Voters may cognitively withdraw their identification to the beloved country if
the pandemic is rampant in where they live as well as when the government fails to address it
thoroughly. We conducted a pre-registered MTurk experiment (n = 606) on 20 April 2020, in the
United States—3 months after the first confirmed case and weeks after the large-scale lockdown.
Results show that US subjects who were primed of the COVID-19 in the United States significantly
decreased their level of nationalism, especially among Democrats. In contrast, the priming of
“COVID-19 in the world” has no effect. The negative impact of COVID-19 on nationalism could
be explained by enough time as people could observe and evaluate the government’s performance
after the outbreak through the partisan lens.
Keywords
nationalism, COVID-19, MTurk, democratic accountability
Accepted: 22 October 2020
Introduction
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic is believed to increase people’s level of nation-
alism. Hartman et al. (2020) conducted a cross-sectional representative survey in the
United Kingdom in early March 2020; they found that the perceived threat of the COVID-
19 may activate an authoritarianism attitude, which shifts the public opinion toward
stronger nationalism and anti-immigration. Similarly, Golec et al. (2020) collected a
three-wave survey before and after the outbreak in Poland; they found that the level of
right-wing authoritarianism, the quest for national cohesion, and sexual prejudice all
increased after the outbreak. Most recently, Bol et al. (2020) conducted a panel survey
before and after the lockdown in eight European countries; they found out that
Department of Political Science, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA
Corresponding author:
Austin Horng-En Wang, Department of Political Science, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 5400 Maryland
Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA.
Email: austin.wang@unlv.edu; @wearytolove
973524PSW0010.1177/1478929920973524Political Studies ReviewHiko and Wang
research-article2020
Early Results
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