Book contents
- State of Emergency
- State of Emergency
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The Architecture of Emergency Constitutions
- 3 The Determinants of Emergency Constitutions
- 4 Why Do Governments Call a State of Emergency?
- 5 The Effectiveness of Emergency Constitutions after Natural Disasters
- 6 When Does Terror Induce a State of Emergency? And What Are the Effects?
- 7 States of Emergency after Domestic Turmoil
- 8 Dealing with Disaster
- 9 Keeping up the Balance between the Federation and the States
- 10 Constitutionalized Media Freedom during Emergencies
- 11 Unconstitutional States of Emergency
- 12 The COVID-19 Pandemic, States of Emergency, and Reliance on Executive Decrees
- 13 Returning to the Status Quo Ante?
- 14 Contracting for Catastrophe
- 15 The Future of States of Emergency
- References
- Index
12 - The COVID-19 Pandemic, States of Emergency, and Reliance on Executive Decrees
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 November 2024
- State of Emergency
- State of Emergency
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The Architecture of Emergency Constitutions
- 3 The Determinants of Emergency Constitutions
- 4 Why Do Governments Call a State of Emergency?
- 5 The Effectiveness of Emergency Constitutions after Natural Disasters
- 6 When Does Terror Induce a State of Emergency? And What Are the Effects?
- 7 States of Emergency after Domestic Turmoil
- 8 Dealing with Disaster
- 9 Keeping up the Balance between the Federation and the States
- 10 Constitutionalized Media Freedom during Emergencies
- 11 Unconstitutional States of Emergency
- 12 The COVID-19 Pandemic, States of Emergency, and Reliance on Executive Decrees
- 13 Returning to the Status Quo Ante?
- 14 Contracting for Catastrophe
- 15 The Future of States of Emergency
- References
- Index
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic has not only caused millions to die and even more to lose their jobs, it has also prompted more governments to simultaneously declare a state of emergency than ever before enabling us to compare their decisions more directly. States of emergency usually imply the extension of executive powers that diminishes the powers of other branches of government, as well as the civil liberties of individuals. Here, we analyze the use of emergency provisions during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and find that it can be largely explained by drawing on political economy. It does, hence, not constitute an exception. We show that many governments have (mis-)used the pandemic as a pretext to curtail media freedom. We further show that executive decrees are considered a substitute for states of emergency by many governments.
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- State of EmergencyAn Economic Analysis, pp. 319 - 335Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024