Democracy in times of the pandemic: explaining the variation of COVID-19 policies across European democracies

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Democracy in times of the pandemic : explaining the variation of COVID-19 policies across European democracies. / Engler, Sarah; Brunner, Palmo; Loviat, Romane et al.

In: West European Politics, Vol. 44, No. 5-6, 19.09.2021, p. 1077-1102.

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

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Engler S, Brunner P, Loviat R, Abou-Chadi T, Leemann L, Glaser A et al. Democracy in times of the pandemic: explaining the variation of COVID-19 policies across European democracies. West European Politics. 2021 Sep 19;44(5-6):1077-1102. doi: 10.1080/01402382.2021.1900669

Bibtex

@article{67a010f85f504d9aa1699ddc9f3b2c16,
title = "Democracy in times of the pandemic: explaining the variation of COVID-19 policies across European democracies",
abstract = "In fighting the spread of COVID-19, the drastic measures undertaken by governments worldwide demonstrate a trade-off between public health and fundamental democratic principles. Yet this behaviour is not consistent across democracies, which motivates this paper to examine why some democracies were willing to constrain individual freedoms and concentrate power more than others during the pandemic{\textquoteright}s first wave. Creating two indices to measure the degree to which COVID-19 policies interfere with these democratic principles in 34 European countries, the analyses show that the large variation cannot be solely explained by pandemic-related factors. It is argued that the strong protection of democratic principles already established in {\textquoteleft}normal{\textquoteright} times makes governments more reluctant to opt for restrictive policies. By highlighting how differences in policy responses are attributed to provisions guaranteeing individual liberties, this paper contributes to a better understanding of how democracies handle the democratic dilemma in times of crises.",
keywords = "COVID-19, democracy, fundamental rights, public health crisis, public health policies, state of emergency, Politics",
author = "Sarah Engler and Palmo Brunner and Romane Loviat and Tarik Abou-Chadi and Lucas Leemann and Andreas Glaser and Daniel K{\"u}bler",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.",
year = "2021",
month = sep,
day = "19",
doi = "10.1080/01402382.2021.1900669",
language = "English",
volume = "44",
pages = "1077--1102",
journal = "West European Politics",
issn = "0140-2382",
publisher = "Taylor & Francis",
number = "5-6",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Democracy in times of the pandemic

T2 - explaining the variation of COVID-19 policies across European democracies

AU - Engler, Sarah

AU - Brunner, Palmo

AU - Loviat, Romane

AU - Abou-Chadi, Tarik

AU - Leemann, Lucas

AU - Glaser, Andreas

AU - Kübler, Daniel

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

PY - 2021/9/19

Y1 - 2021/9/19

N2 - In fighting the spread of COVID-19, the drastic measures undertaken by governments worldwide demonstrate a trade-off between public health and fundamental democratic principles. Yet this behaviour is not consistent across democracies, which motivates this paper to examine why some democracies were willing to constrain individual freedoms and concentrate power more than others during the pandemic’s first wave. Creating two indices to measure the degree to which COVID-19 policies interfere with these democratic principles in 34 European countries, the analyses show that the large variation cannot be solely explained by pandemic-related factors. It is argued that the strong protection of democratic principles already established in ‘normal’ times makes governments more reluctant to opt for restrictive policies. By highlighting how differences in policy responses are attributed to provisions guaranteeing individual liberties, this paper contributes to a better understanding of how democracies handle the democratic dilemma in times of crises.

AB - In fighting the spread of COVID-19, the drastic measures undertaken by governments worldwide demonstrate a trade-off between public health and fundamental democratic principles. Yet this behaviour is not consistent across democracies, which motivates this paper to examine why some democracies were willing to constrain individual freedoms and concentrate power more than others during the pandemic’s first wave. Creating two indices to measure the degree to which COVID-19 policies interfere with these democratic principles in 34 European countries, the analyses show that the large variation cannot be solely explained by pandemic-related factors. It is argued that the strong protection of democratic principles already established in ‘normal’ times makes governments more reluctant to opt for restrictive policies. By highlighting how differences in policy responses are attributed to provisions guaranteeing individual liberties, this paper contributes to a better understanding of how democracies handle the democratic dilemma in times of crises.

KW - COVID-19

KW - democracy

KW - fundamental rights

KW - public health crisis

KW - public health policies

KW - state of emergency

KW - Politics

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85103409067&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/01402382.2021.1900669

DO - 10.1080/01402382.2021.1900669

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85103409067

VL - 44

SP - 1077

EP - 1102

JO - West European Politics

JF - West European Politics

SN - 0140-2382

IS - 5-6

ER -