Measuring Constitutional Loyalty: Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic
WIFO Research Seminar, Österreichisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Wien, 01.06.2022 12:30
Commentary: Michael Peneder
Organised by: Austrian Institute of Economic Research
Online since: 17.05.2022 0:00
Constitutional loyalty, the importance ascribed to complying with constitutional rules, is difficult to measure across countries
due to differences in context, history, and culture. We overcome this challenge by exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic as an
ideal setting in which societies around the world face a novel and similar public health crisis, inducing governments to adopt
comparable policies. Based on a survey carried out in 53 countries around the world in 2021, we show that citizens' support
for COVID-19 mitigation policies declines if courts signal doubts about their constitutionality. We further demonstrate that
this effect of constitutional loyalty depends on citizens' characteristics, such as their confidence in the courts and their
moral convictions.