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 soci

SUBMITTER: Bethke FS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7530536 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature