Democracy in Times of Pandemic : Different Futures Imagined

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented an important case study, on a global scale, of how democracy works - and fails to work - today. From leadership to citizenship, from due process to checks and balances, from globalization to misinformation, from solidarity within and across borders to the role of expertise, key democratic concepts both old and new are now being put to the test. The future of democracy around the world is at issue as today's governments manage their responses to the pandemic. Bringing together some of today's most creative thinkers, these essays offer a variety of inquiries into democracy during the global pandemic with a view to imagining post-crisis political conditions. Representing different regions and disciplines, including law, politics, philosophy, religion, and sociology, eighteen voices offer different outlooks - optimistic and pessimistic - on the future. --Publisher description Cover 1 Half-title page 3 Title page 5 Copyright page 6 Contents 7 List of Contributors 9 Introduction: A New Beginning 13 Part I Power 31 1 The Crisis of Democratic Leadership in Times of Pandemic 35 2 Executive Overreach and Underreach in the Pandemic 50 3 From Political Accountability to Criminal Liability: The Strange Case of French Penal Populism 66 4 Democracy and Emergency in Latin America 78 5 Apocalyptic Christianity, Democracy, and the Pandemic 89 Part II Knowledge 97 6 The Reckoning: Evaluating Democratic Leadership 101 7 The Irrelevance of the Pandemic 116 8 Emergency, Democracy, and Public Discourse 127 9 Understanding, Deciding, and Learning: The Key Political Challenges in Times of Pandemic 134 Part III Citizens 149 10 COVID, Europe, and the Self-Asphyxiation of Democracy 153 11 Corona as Chance: Overcoming the Tyranny of Self-Interest 165 12 Reimagined Democracy in Times of Pandemic 180 13 Redefining Vulnerability and State–Society Relationships during the COVID-19 Crisis: The Politics of Social Welfare Funds in India and Italy 194 14 Democracy and the Obligations of Care: A Demos Worthy of Sacrifice 208