COVID-19 and shrinking civic spaces: patterns and consequences

Abstract

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of countries worldwide have introduced severe limitations on the freedom of assembly, if not an outright lockdown, in many cases complemented by restrictions on further civil and political rights. Although restrictions were generally considered necessary to save lives and protect health care systems from overburdening, they also pose the risk of government overreach, that is, governments may use the pandemic as a convenient opportunity and justification to impose restrictions for political purposes. In this sense, COVID-19 may give yet another substantial boost to a global trend that has been unfolding since the early 2000s: the shrinking of civic spaces, which is characterized by an increase in government restrictions that target civil society actors and limit their freedoms of assembly, association, and expression. The aim of the paper is to assess civic space restrictions that have been imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic with a view to exploring their immediate consequences as well as their potential mid-term implications for civil society organizations in general and contentious civic activism in particular. We do so by, first, providing evidence from multiple data sources about the global spread of COVID-19-related restrictions over time and across countries. Second, we identify key dynamics at work in order to assess the immediate consequences and the potential mid-term implications of these restrictions. These dynamics are illustrated by looking at experiences from individual countries (including Cambodia, Germany, Hungary, and Lebanon).

Pandemic backsliding: Violations of democratic standards during Covid-19

“… Sebhatu et al (2020) and Cheibub et al (2020) find that more democratic countries reacted slower and were more hesitant to initiate lockdowns and school closures. Other studies address the effects of Covid-19 responses on civic spaces ( Bethke and Wolff, 2020 ), social movements ( Pleyers, 2020 ), and public support for the government ( Bol et al, 2020 ). Charron et al (2020) find that polarization and populism explain why some European regions saw higher excess mortality than others during the early stages of the pandemic.…”

Covid-19: magnifying pre-existing urban problems

“…Government overreach used Covid-19 as a reason to encroach on civic space, and freedom of assembly became a concern early in the pandemic (Bethke & Wolff 2020). Zajak Stjepandić and Steinhilper (2021) argued that the suspension of the right of assembly was one of the first and most significant consequences of Covid-19 related regulations in Germany.…”

Delivering for youth: How governments can put young people at the centre of the recovery

“…z Views of youth organisations: New evidence on the needs, concerns and circumstances of young people (aged [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] in the context of the COVID-19 crisis, their expectations from governments; their satisfaction with public services; and a discussion on the drivers of young people's trust in government, public institutions and democracy.…”