The summer of 2019 saw the rise of “The Umbrella Movement” in Hong Kong against a Chinese extradition bill that challenged the “one nation two systems” policy that had been in place for the past several decades.  The Umbrella Movement primarily focused on civil disobedience tactics and social media mobilization.    Hong Kong activists are concerned about revocation of such civil liberties as freedom of press, freedom of speech, and freedom from police brutality, and civil rights such as fair trials and fair elections.

Roots of Recent Activism in Hong Kong

Freedom of Press is a fundamental civil liberty.  Government-run media groups and media groups under government-pressure have been used to disseminate propaganda and conspiracy theories, many of which contained false information.  This state control and pressure undermines the freedom of press in the Federation of Russia in a way that undermines the free spread of information and trust in government.

Russian Federation and Rejection of a Free Press

US Concerns for the 2020 federal election exacerbated by Covid-19:
- Consistent application of election law
- Safe Polling Access
- Freedom from Fraudulent Results


United States and Right to Fair Elections

- Hong Kong
- Russian Federation
- United States

University of California, Davis

- Good Leadership Traits to Contain COVID-19 (with examples) 
- Assessing Government Responses to COVID-19 with the Government Response Stringency Index
- Covid-19 Potential Impact on Populist Trends
- Covid-19 Impact on International Civil Rights and Liberties
- Voting during COVID-19 (Electoral Cycle)
- Political Science Terminology
- Covid-19 Impact on International Civil Rights and Liberties
-COVID-19 affecting the Stock Market
- Politics surrounding Vaccines/vaccination

Politics and Government in relation to COVID-19

With over 1 million COVID-19 cases as of June 30th, 2020 (according to WHO), the national governments play a crucial role in controlling the pandemic. Essential keys to good governance during these times include rapid response, good communication, impactful decision making, relying on the public, and working with other nations. 

Good Leadership Traits to Contain COVID-19 (with examples)

- COVID-19 Government Response Stringency Index (GRSI) 

Assessment of Government Responses to COVID-19

The electoral cycle includes the steps and processes for elections. The pre-electoral period is when voters register, staff are trained, and information starts to gather. The electoral period is when nominations, campaigns, and voting happens. This is also when results of the elections are released. Lastly, the post-electoral period is to review the whole electoral cycle and make strategies.
- Electoral Cycle during COVID-19

Electoral Cycle 

- Populism
- Partisanship
- Categories of False or Misleading Information
- Free and Fair Elections

Political Science Terminology

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated significant operational and policy adjustments to United Nations (UN) peace operations. To mitigate viral spread, the UN implemented strict social distancing policies, mandatory quarantines, and halted non-essential projects. While these disruptions negatively impacted global deployments, budgets, and long-term operational goals, the crisis also catalyzed positive management reforms. Notably, the UN increased the delegation of authority to mission heads, enabling faster, field-oriented decision-making to adapt to the pandemic.

COVID-19 Impact on Peace Operations

This pandemic has affected the Stock Markets much more than the Spanish Flu did. But, not all countries were impacted the same way. The results included:  shareholders no longer seemed troubled by news of the health crisis, and prices rebounded all around the world, stock markets did not react more strongly in countries more susceptible to the pandemic, either due to structural economic fragility or through exposure to transmission vectors, investors were sensitive to the number of COVID-19 cases in neighboring (but mostly wealthy) countries and finally, credit facilities and government guarantees, lower policy interest rates, and lockdown measures mitigated the decline in stock prices. 

How Has the Stock Market Been Affected by COVID-19

There is doubt about the compliance with vaccine measures once a covid-19 vaccine is approved and available for distribution.  In a poll released by Gallup in early August of 2020, 35% of Americans report that they would not get a “free, FDA-approved Covid-19 vaccine if ready today.”   Historically,  individuals with the same political party identification of the contemporary president have been more likely to vaccinate than presidential out-partisans.   However, this Gallup poll showed Democrats were more than 30% more likely than Republicans to agree to a vaccine in this scenario, despite the fact that there is currently a Republican in the White House.  Although there is not significant research on the matter, this concern among individuals could be realistically attributed to three overlapping categories: Premature approval, politicization, and general mistrust of vaccines.

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