Riding the COVID-19 Wave? Issue Attention during the Pandemic

Abstract The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic altered the political agendas and the existing agenda-setting processes of nations worldwide. While in times of crisis, incumbent parties cannot ignore problems and be purely strategic agenda setters, non-incumbent parties can be more selective and strategise the attention they devote to certain political issues. Based on an analysis of 1507 parliamentary questions posed by the parties in the multi-party parliament of Denmark before and during the first COVID-19 wave (March–June 2020), the present article aims at determining what explains issue emphasis during the crisis. During the first stages of the COVID-19 crisis, parties from both the right and the left of the political spectrum rather than emphasising only issues they ‘own’, devoted special attention to the most salient issues, including those connected to the pandemic. These findings have important implications for political responsiveness in times of crisis.