In democratic countries, public support for the judiciary is crucial to prevent abuse of power by the government. While facing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, governments may overly restrict their citizens' rights to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. This study examined whether voters would support a court's ruling if the court decided that the government's restriction of their rights was illegal and nullified the risk-averse policies. We suppose that voters faced with the risk of a pandemic will support a government with the expertise and resources to prevent a pandemic, and we set up the following hypotheses: If the courts nullify the measures against COVID-19, the public will not support the courts, and the government's failure to comply with the court's ruling will not diminish support for the government. We find support for these hypotheses in the contexts wherein the degree of restriction on voters' rights is weak. Because there is a close relationship between "public support for the court" and "government abuse of power," we need to consider which factors determine support for the court.
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