Protest against Covid-19 containment policies in European countries

Abstract

Protests against coronavirus policies have occurred in all European countries. The intensity of protest varies strongly, however. We explain this variation by strategic choices that protest organizers make to maintain the protest movement. Specifically, we argue that protest organizers pay heed to the dynamics of the pandemic in their country: the number of protest events is higher when and where mortality rates are lower and containment policies are more stringent. At the same time, the number of protest events is influenced by political factors. Despite the fact that civil liberties facilitate trust in government, these two variables exert opposite effects: while higher trust in government and public administration reduces the number of protest events, stronger civil liberties increase the number of protest events. We find evidence for these hypotheses in an analysis of the number of monthly protest events based on information from ACLED, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, in 28 European countries between March 2020 and August 2021.

From masks to mismanagement: A global assessment of the rise and fall of pandemic-related protests

“…In highly developed countries and countries with high levels of liberal democracy, contention was more about government restrictions, while in less developed countries, protests were more often about the healthcare system, underlining differences in political opportunity structures. This finding aligns with recent work by Neumayer et al (2023) showing that stronger civil liberties are associated with more protest events. Future studies could apply more advanced research designs to uncover the causal effect of particular predictors to understand why certain issues become more salient in some countries than others.…”

“…Extending recent work by Kriesi and Oana (2023) and Neumayer et al (2023), this paper examines variation in pandemic-related protest issues across time and space. Applying methods of quantitative text analysis to protest event data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) project (Raleigh et al, 2010), I trace pandemic-related protests in a global sample of countries and identify the main protest issues.…”

“…Gerbaudo (2020, 63) identifies different types of "pandemic protests" such as socially distanced protests by healthcare personnel, anti-lockdown protests, and riots. While recent research has begun to explain the occurrence of protests against government restrictions (e.g., Neumayer et al, 2023), we lack a comprehensive account of the diversity of Covid-19-related protests. One important exception is recent work by Kriesi and Oana (2023).…”

Authoritarian Opposition? Authoritarian Disposition and Resistance to Public Health Mitigation Strategies During COVID-19

“…Several recent studies have examined the correlates of public unrest during the COVID-19 pandemic or sought to identify the conditions that gave rise to organized opposition to restrictions. These studies highlight the role of opportunity structures in shaping anti-lockdown mobilization: protests frequency was negatively correlated with COVID-19 infection rates, negatively related to restrictions on domestic transportation and movement, and positively correlated with pre-existing state respect for civil liberties (Neumeyer, Pfaff, and Plümper, 2023; Plümper, Neumeyer, and Pfaff, 2021; Wood et al, 2022). Moreover, they suggest that grievances and general attitudes toward authorities influenced protest location and intensity.…”

Tired of climate targets? Shift focus of IPCC scenarios from emission and growth targets to policies

“…To increase the feasibility of policy implementation, one best avoids stressing the negative growth implications of policies as these are uncertain and unlikely to generate enthusiasm among the broader public. Take, as an example, the COVID‐19 lockdown measures, which can be considered a “natural experiment” of degrowth that sparked resistance in many countries 31,32 . Instead, we should try to ensure society is less concerned about economic growth, which makes a lot of sense in view of the uncertainties about decoupling under stringent policies and the widely accepted shortcomings of GDP as a social welfare indicator 33 .…”