Christopher J. Coyne (George Mason University – Department of Economics) & Yuliya Yatsyshina have posted Pandemic Police States on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments’ willingness to employ their police powers have been brought to the forefront. Pandemic police states utilize surveillance, dictates limiting association, and punishment in the name of combating the virus. While police powers can be used for good, they can also be abused. We outline the theoretical foundations of the operation of the potentially troubling aspects of pandemic police state activities. We then catalog some pandemic police state activities associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. We conclude with the implications for peace studies.