Public Trust and Democracy: Human Rights During the Pandemic in Southeast Asia
Pandemic, Politics, and a Fairer Society in Southeast Asia: A Malaysian Perspective
ISBN: 978-1-80455-589-7, eISBN: 978-1-80455-588-0
Publication date: 20 July 2023
Abstract
Governments in Southeast Asia have introduced and enforced harsh legal measures to stem the spread of COVID-19. These measures are disproportionate to the crisis and disregard fundamental human rights. Against this backdrop, public trust in government among Southeast Asians nevertheless remains relatively high – paradoxically, people living in authoritarian regimes tend to trust their governments more compared to people living in democratic regimes. The chapter examines the impacts that anti-COVID-19 legal measures have left on the protection of human rights and the seemingly paradoxical divorce between public trust and the diminished respect for fundamental human rights. Based on this examination, this chapter also proposes elements that any global treaty for future pandemic response must include in order to ensure the protection of human rights.
Keywords
Citation
Gomez, J. and Ramcharan, R. (2023), "Public Trust and Democracy: Human Rights During the Pandemic in Southeast Asia", Shukri, S. (Ed.) Pandemic, Politics, and a Fairer Society in Southeast Asia: A Malaysian Perspective (Diverse Perspectives on Creating a Fairer Society), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 21-37. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80455-588-020231003
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2023 James Gomez and Robin Ramcharan