What determined how governments in the Middle East and North Africa reacted to the global COVID-19 pandemic? We develop a theoretical argument based on the political costs of different policy... Show moreWhat determined how governments in the Middle East and North Africa reacted to the global COVID-19 pandemic? We develop a theoretical argument based on the political costs of different policy options and assess its empirical relevance. Distinguishing between the immediate costs associated with decisive action and the potential costs of uncontrolled spread that are likely to accrue over the long term, we argue that leaders who have fewer incentives to provide public goods to stay in power will lock down later than their more constrained counterparts. We find empirical support for this argument in statistical analyses covering the 1 January – 30 November 2020 period using the Oxford covid-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) and our own original data on the timing of mosque closures and strict lockdowns across the region. We also illustrate our argument with a description of the response to the pandemic in Egypt. Show less
The study at hand focuses on the control of sex and youngsters through the response by authorities most notably from within criminal justice. This dissertation consists of five articles and a... Show moreThe study at hand focuses on the control of sex and youngsters through the response by authorities most notably from within criminal justice. This dissertation consists of five articles and a concluding chapter. The emphasis of this study is on the societal interests as protected by the authorities. This approach provides a useful complement to more conventional research on sexual abuse and sexual transgression. In a lot of studies the behavior of individuals receives most attention and not the response by authorities, which can be indicative of the way authorities envision the organization of society. It is this organization through the control of youth and sex that sets this study apart from other studies. Show less
