This section provides links to key databases and resources relevant to the impact of states’ COVID-19 responses on democracy.
Click on the name of the resource to access.
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FEATURED
IDEA: Global Monitor of COVID-19´s impact on Democracy and Human Rights
Launched on 7 July 2020, the Global Monitor of COVID-19´s Impact on Democracy and Human Rights will be a one-stop platform that facilitates public access to knowledge, information, data, analysis and policy guidance that is produced by International IDEA and other trackers of democratic rights on the implications of measures adopted by governments in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Global Monitor is produced by International IDEA with support from the European Union. COVID-DEM is proud to partner with IDEA to be a key component of the Global Monitor.
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new
AlliANCE FOR JOURNALISTS’ FREEDOM (AJF): PRESS FREEDOM TRACKER
Since the AJF’s inception in 2018 and amid the Covid-19 crisis, there have been significant changes to press freedom in the Asia–Pacific region. To track this and ensure a comprehensive understanding of the regional challenges facing democracy that involve press freedom, AJF has created a data visualisation so organisations, governments, journalists and the general public can track the status of these issues during that time frame and see how they’ve evolved during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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COVID REVIEW OBSERVATORY
The COVID Review Observatory (CVRO) is a resource that records, tracks, and assesses reviews of responses to the COVID-19 pandemic from a human rights perspective The CVRO studies what parliaments in Westminster, Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh are doing to subject government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic to review. On the Observatory you will find records and analysis of these reviews, focusing on how independent they are, how evidence-based they are, how participatory they are, and how much they take into account the human rights impact of the pandemic responses they are reviewing.
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Lowy Institute: Covid Performance Index
This interactive database produced by the Lowy Institute (Australia) explores how almost 100 countries with publicly available and comparable data on the virus have managed the pandemic to date following their hundredth confirmed case of COVID-19. Countries have been sorted into broad categories — by regions, political systems, population size, and economic development — to determine whether significant variations exist between different types of states in the handling of the pandemic.
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databases a-z
ALAN GREENE COLLECTION ON COVID-19 & STATES OF EMERGENCY
Dr Alan Greene, Senior Lecturer in public law and human rights at Birmingham Law, is a leading authority on emergency powers and states of emergency. This collection gathers his work on the pandemic, including information on his forthcoming book, Emergency Powers in a Time of Pandemic (Bristol University Press, 1 October 2020)
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amnesty international: COVID-19 section
Amnesty International’s dedicated COVID-19 section features articles on a wide range of human rights topics. As they put it: “Whether you are working from home, out of work, self-isolating or caring for others, these are lonely and uncertain times. Life may feel like it’s on hold right now - but the fight for human rights never stops.
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asian legal conversations - covid-19
The Asian Law Centre at University of Melbourne has recently launched Asian Legal Conversations - COVID-19 to discuss and compare experiences on issues either raised or exacerbated by COVID-19 across the Asia Pacific region. It also discusses country-specific issues. Contributions range in format (e.g. blog posts, video recordings). COVID-DEM has been happy to collaborate with the Centre in gathering materials on democracy for this resource.
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austlii COVID-19 laws
Links concerning COVID-19 regulations, legal directions, case law and commentary.
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CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT: GLOBAL PROTEST TRACKER
A one-stop source for following crucial trends in the most significant antigovernment protests worldwide since 2017. An excellent resource for tracking protests during the pandemic.
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civicus covid-19 monitor
CIVICUS, monitoring civic space since 2016, has a dedicated COVID-19 page. A range of restrictions on freedoms has been introduced in attempts to curb the pandemic. However, some of these have had troubling impacts on human rights and the space for civil society. In many cases, they have patterned onto and reinforced existing restrictions of civic space.
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Comparative Covid Law
The Italian associations of Comparative Law and Public Comparative & European Law (DPCE) have launched a website on “Comparative Covid Law” to provide an archive on legal interventions and scholarly comments on the Covid-19 pandemic.
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coronavirus tech handbook
This handbook is an open edit resource on Elections, voting, delaying, special powers, and protest. You can also join the accompanying WhatsApp here.
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council of europe resources
The Council of Europe offers a range of resources, including: (i) Treaty Tracker: new webpage tracking all notices of derogation from the European Convention on Human Rights (under article 15 ECHR); (ii) Election Tracker: new page ‘Impact of COVID-19 on elections and referenda in Europe’ tracks election schedules across the Council’s 47 member states; and (iii) Collection: ‘The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on human rights and the rule of law - Our action’.
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COVID-19 and the Law of Australia
COVID-19 and the Law of Australia, written by Emrys Nekvapil, Maya Narayan and Stephanie Brenker, is an online textbook, organised by subject area, providing guidance on the laws made by the legislature, executive and judiciary (and administrative tribunals) of the Commonwealth and each State and Territory in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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COVID-19 Civic Freedom Tracker
This tracker monitors government responses to the pandemic that affect civic freedoms and human rights, focusing on emergency laws. The COVID-19 Civic Freedom Tracker is a collaborative effort by the ICNL, ECNL, and a global network of partners, with generous research support from the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Fionnuala D. Ní Aoláin. This is an ongoing effort, and the team welcome you to email them at epage@icnl.org and simona@ecnl.org to share additional resources.
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covid-19 law and human rights observatory
The Trinity Centre for Constitutional Governance at Trinity College Dublin (Ireland) has joined forces with the Corporate Law, Governance and Capital Markets research group to establish this COVID-19 Law and Human Rights Observatory. The Observatory engages in research across the full range of Ireland’s legal response to COVID-19. We aim both to inform the public and to provoke public debate.
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COVID Review Observatory (CVRO)
The COVID Review Observatory (CVRO) at the University of Birmingham is a resource that records, tracks, and assesses reviews of responses to the COVID-19 pandemic from a human rights perspective. The CVRO studies what parliaments in Westminster, Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh are doing to subject government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic to review. On the Observatory you will find records and analysis of these reviews, focusing on how independent they are, how evidence-based they are, how participatory they are, and how much they take into account the human rights impact of the pandemic responses they are reviewing.
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COVIDStateWatch
@COVIDStateWatch is a Twitter account to keep track of abuses of police power and emergency laws during the Coronavirus pandemic. It was established by Eda Seyhan, a former Amnesty campaigner on counter-terrorism.
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COVID SURVEILLANCE TRACKER
With at least 20 countries now monitoring their residents’ movements, using a variety of surveillance tools, the reach and variety of surveillance is unprecedented. Two journalists, Morgan Meaker and Dimitri Tokmetzis, aim to track surveillance. You can read about their project and assist their efforts here.
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CPA parliament toolkit
The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) has produced a toolkit for Commonwealth Parliaments and legislatures on the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic and delivering parliamentary democracy.
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democracy digest
Democracy Digest, produced by the National Endowment for Democracy (USA), features regular articles collating analysis on the impact of COVID-19 on democracy worldwide.
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DEMOCRACY IN TIMES OF CORONA
International Democracy Community has established a page to monitor the effects, good and bad, of the measures taken to combat COVID-19 on democracies around the world. Their goal is to collect as much information as possible. You can use the report function to send them testimonials and news articles on your country here.
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digital democracy monitor
The Digital Democracy Monitor Toolkit seeks to empower researchers with the knowledge, tools and examples to analyse democratic discourse online. This toolkit was prepared by Democracy Reporting International (DRI) as part of its work on Social Media and Democracy. You can use the toolkit to assemble a report on an election’s vulnerability to online disinformation.
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Federalism & the COVID-19 Pandemic
The Peter MacKell Chair in Federalism team at McGill University (Montreal, Canada) has launched a non-exhaustive compedium of (res)sources on the intersection between federalism-writ-large and COVID-19 on their website. They are also collecting references and suggestions of links, blogs, articles etc. which may be sent to federalism-covid19.law@mcgill.ca
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Freedom House: Democracy During Pandemic
Freedom House has set up a dedicated section on its website to publish pieces focused on the impact of COVID-19 on democracy worldwide. A selection of these pieces have also been listed under the ‘'Policy Reports & Analysis’ section. You can sign up for their Newsletter here.
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hungary: emergency decrees tracker
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee has established this tracker to track the stream of emergency decrees issued by the Orbán regime in response to COVID-19. 70 emergency government decrees have been adopted by the government in Hungary since the state of danger was declared on 11 March.
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IDEA: COVID-19 & DEMOCRACY
As the pandemic changes how we lead our lives and how political leaders are making decisions at the local, national and global level, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) addresses what this means for immediate decisions on elections and how does it shape the adjustments made around governance and emergency powers. This portal collects analysis, commentary, and information on how our democratic rights are affected during health crises and other large-scale and life-threatening emergencies.
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IDEA: Elections and COVID-19
Elections postponed due to the outbreak of COVID-19 span the globe. As part of its focus on COVID-19 and Democracy, IDEA has compiled a list of the current elections schedule and plans, as reported by electoral management bodies and news media. This list is not comprehensive but represents a snap shot of decisions and events across the globe. See also the Technical Paper in the Policy Analysis section.
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IFES: COVID-19: A Survival Guide for Democracies
The COVID-19 pandemic threatens public health, economies and democracies. International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) experts are working around the globe to deliver critical analysis and innovative solutions for our partners during this time of uncertainty. This page serves as a hub for essential information to safeguard democratic rights, elections and rule of law along with transparent, accountable and effective governance while also protecting the health of our families and communities.
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Impacts of COVID-19 on Justice Systems
With a view to assessing the current impact of COVID-19 on justice and legal aid systems, the Global Access to Justice Project has collected quantitative and qualitative data from 51 countries during April 2020.
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international press institute (ipi) covid-19 tracker
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the free flow of news and information is more essential than ever, ensuring open dialogue and the exchange of vital information. IPI is therefore closely monitoring press freedom restrictions in this exceptional situation.
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IPU: Parliaments in a time of pandemic
Over the next few weeks, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) will be reporting on how parliaments are responding to the public health crisis by passing emergency legislation, allocating resources and adopting new ways of working using the latest innovation and technology. See their Q&A to help parliaments consider quick solutions here.
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odihr: covid-19 portal
The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has established a portal titled ‘Activities related to the COVID-19 pandemic’.
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open democracy
openDemocracy and partners Source Material are tracking how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting democracy across the world. Each week they issue an email bulletin on how governments are suspending civil rights, ramping up surveillance and rolling back hard-won freedoms. Subscribe to the newsletter here. Access the Covid-19 section here.
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project syndicate
The media organisation Project Syndicate has established a dedicated COVID-19 section, which regularly features analysis of the political dimensions of the pandemic.
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V-DEM institute: pandemic backsliding
The V-Dem Institute’s Pandemic Backsliding Project aims to track state responses to the Covid-19 pandemic as illustrative of the varieties of emergency measures and their execution, addressing how these decisions affect short- and long-term prospects for the political regime and democracy.
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wfd: pandemic democracy tracker
Westminster Foundation for Democracy’s pandemic democracy tracker tracks the democratic response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the countries in which they work. The tracker displays up-to-date information about any emergency action taken by governments, the parliamentary response, whether social and economic protections have been put in place, and the political impact, including the postponement of elections.
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