Working Paper: NBER ID: w30846
Authors: Marcella Alsan; Luca Braghieri; Sarah Eichmeyer; Minjeong Joyce Kim; Stefanie Stantcheva; David Y Yang
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.
Keywords: democracy; civil liberties; COVID-19; survey experiment
JEL Codes: I1; P0
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Exposure to information about civil liberties infringements in China and South Korea (P37) | Increased concern about erosion of civil liberties (F52) |
| Exposure to information about civil liberties infringements in China and South Korea (P37) | Increased worries about misuse of government-collected information (H12) |
| Exposure to information about civil liberties infringements in China and South Korea (P37) | Concerns that forgone rights would not be recovered post-crisis (P26) |
| Exposure to information about civil liberties infringements in China and South Korea (P37) | Decreased willingness to sacrifice overall rights and freedoms (F52) |
| Exposure to information about civil liberties infringements in China and South Korea (P37) | Decreased willingness to sacrifice privacy (K24) |
| Exposure to information about civil liberties infringements in China and South Korea (P37) | Decreased willingness to give up mobility (J62) |
| Exposure to information about civil liberties infringements in China and South Korea (P37) | No significant effect on support for democratic rights and institutions (D72) |