Introduction to the Special Issue: The First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany

The article introduces the special issue on ‘The First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany’. Besides a brief description and analysis of COVID-19 management in Germany in the first year of the pandemic from an international comparative perspective, it provides insight into the question of how the COVID-19 Pandemic was analysed in political science research. Finally, it gives an overview of the contributions of the special issue that focus on three substantive themes: first, trust and support in politics in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis in Germany; second, impact of the pandemic on German parliaments, parties, and political leadership; and third, selected imminent and future consequences of COVID-19 for policies and policymaking in Germany.