The Health of Democracies During the Pandemic: Results from a Randomized Survey Experiment

 
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Braghieri, Luca
Eichmeyer, Sarah
Kim, Minjeong Joyce
Stantcheva, Stefanie
Yang, David Y
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https://doi.org/10.3386/w30846
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Alsan, Marcella, Luca Braghieri, Sarah Eichmeyer, Minjeong Joyce Kim, Stefanie Stantcheva, and David Y. Yang. "The Health of Democracies During the Pandemic: Results from a Randomized Survey Experiment." HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP23-004, January 2023.
Abstract
Concerns have been raised about the “demise of democracy”, possibly accelerated by pandemic-related restrictions. Using a survey experiment involving 8,206 respondents from five Western democracies, we find that subjects randomly exposed to information regarding civil liberties infringements undertaken by China and South Korea to contain COVID-19 became less willing to sacrifice rights and more worried about their long-term-erosion. However, our treatment did not increase support for democratic procedures more generally, despite our prior evidence that pandemic-related health risks diminished such support. These results suggest that the start of the COVID-19 crisis was a particularly vulnerable time for democracies.
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This article is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Open Access Policy Articles, as set forth at http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of-use#OAP
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https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37374121

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