On 16 September 2020 Julia Leininger (German Development Institute) will discuss the political consequences of the Covid19-pandemic. She focuses on the pandemic’s influence on democracies in Europe and the world.
Lockdowns are epidemiological measures, which restrict individual freedoms. While this opens doors to autocratization in some countries, it brings out democratic strengths in other countries. For some time, it has been taken for granted that Europe is a safe haven for democracy. This assumption has been proven wrong for a while. The pandemic accelerated autocratization trends. Setting Europe in a global context allows us to understand the broader implications of the political consequences of the pandemic.
What are the major trends in Europe? Do they differ from other world regions?
Dr. Julia Leininger heads the department „Transformations of Political (Dis-)Order: Institutions, Values and Peace“ at the German Development Institute/Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE). Her comparative research focuses on explaining political transformation, social cohesion in Africa and international engagement to support democratization.
Source: European Association of Development Institutes, August 2020