The irruption of the political after the pandemic: The case of Panama

Abstract

This article analyzes the emergence of new political agendas as a result of the social mobilization that took place in Panama during the pandemic and how these were finally translated into a new institution for the negotiation of public policies – The Single Roundtable for Dialogue (Mesa Única de Diálogo). Analytical narratives are used based on secondary sources. To this end, the literature and various indicators were examined and a newspaper search was conducted on the phenomenon studied. The hypothesis is that, although there have been previous protests in the Panamanian nation, there is a before and an after in relation to the one that occurred in July, 2022, in terms of the meaning and scope of the demands of mobilized actors. It was a moment of political irruption, in which those who do not usually have a voice demonstrated that they have one. This text characterizes the conditions of public policies in the Panamanian political system; describes the social and economic effects of COVID-19; and describes the process of political irruption and emergence of new agendas during the mobilization. The conclusions illustrate how the aforementioned protests constituted an interruption of the previous equilibrium of the country, where the notion of the public had been distorted and needed to be reformulated.

Keywords

• political agendas
• central america
• covid-19
• social mobilization
• panama
• public policies