COMPREHENSIVE NOTES OF WEEK
6 READINGS FOR DAT 2022/3
, Lecture 11:
Grasse et al: “Opportunistic Repression: Civilian Targeting by the State in Response to
COVID-19”
- did the government use the COVID-19 pandemic to cement authority through repression?
- suspension of the rule of law: permits states greater latitude to take actions in order to protect
the citizens
- crises create opportunities for governments to suppress the political opposition —>
opportunistic repression (shifts the focus on the drivers of state repression from the activities
and capabilities of the opposition to those of the state)
- opportunistic repression: accounts for the repression that emerges as a function of state
opportunity rather than in response to actual or possible mobilization against the incumbent
—> focus on the changes in the tools at the incumbent's disposal
—> emerges when there is an increase in the possible scope of repressive activity available to
the state
- how do public health measures associated with the pandemic affect domestic repression
- COVID-19 created a window of opportunity for governments to use legitimate public health
interventions as a cover to engage in physical repression
- relationship between emergency orders from governments and state violence against civilians
across Africa (statistically significant relationship between shutdowns and repression)
—> lockdown measures expanded the ability of the state to intervene in citizens’ lives (through
force)
- increase in repression is concentrated in opposition areas that showed less support for
Musevni
—> states can leverage ostensibly legitimate expansions in the scope of state power produced
by crises to repress political opponents
- repression: preventive and responsive
- preventive repression: focuses on future challenges to the regime
- responsive: targets dissent, emerges in direct response to a challenge to the state
- repressive regimes leverage changes in international norms during worldwide crises to repress
citizens and secure their positions
→ unlikely for the international critics to advocate sanctions
- COVID-19 has been associated with increases in repression in Africa
→ some African states used physical repression to enforce the lockdown
→ Uganda: state violence is borne by those in opposition-controlled areas
Crisis and Opportunistic Repression:
- Responsive repression: This form of repression is a direct challenge to the opposition
(i.e. a direct response) and emerges in order to demobilize civilians who are directly
opposing the government/ policies on a large scale
→ the Law of Coercive Responsiveness: for every opposition there is also a repressive
measure
6 READINGS FOR DAT 2022/3
, Lecture 11:
Grasse et al: “Opportunistic Repression: Civilian Targeting by the State in Response to
COVID-19”
- did the government use the COVID-19 pandemic to cement authority through repression?
- suspension of the rule of law: permits states greater latitude to take actions in order to protect
the citizens
- crises create opportunities for governments to suppress the political opposition —>
opportunistic repression (shifts the focus on the drivers of state repression from the activities
and capabilities of the opposition to those of the state)
- opportunistic repression: accounts for the repression that emerges as a function of state
opportunity rather than in response to actual or possible mobilization against the incumbent
—> focus on the changes in the tools at the incumbent's disposal
—> emerges when there is an increase in the possible scope of repressive activity available to
the state
- how do public health measures associated with the pandemic affect domestic repression
- COVID-19 created a window of opportunity for governments to use legitimate public health
interventions as a cover to engage in physical repression
- relationship between emergency orders from governments and state violence against civilians
across Africa (statistically significant relationship between shutdowns and repression)
—> lockdown measures expanded the ability of the state to intervene in citizens’ lives (through
force)
- increase in repression is concentrated in opposition areas that showed less support for
Musevni
—> states can leverage ostensibly legitimate expansions in the scope of state power produced
by crises to repress political opponents
- repression: preventive and responsive
- preventive repression: focuses on future challenges to the regime
- responsive: targets dissent, emerges in direct response to a challenge to the state
- repressive regimes leverage changes in international norms during worldwide crises to repress
citizens and secure their positions
→ unlikely for the international critics to advocate sanctions
- COVID-19 has been associated with increases in repression in Africa
→ some African states used physical repression to enforce the lockdown
→ Uganda: state violence is borne by those in opposition-controlled areas
Crisis and Opportunistic Repression:
- Responsive repression: This form of repression is a direct challenge to the opposition
(i.e. a direct response) and emerges in order to demobilize civilians who are directly
opposing the government/ policies on a large scale
→ the Law of Coercive Responsiveness: for every opposition there is also a repressive
measure
