Democracy in Times of Pandemic
Different Futures Imagined

Examines the most important democratic challenges of today, using the Covid-19 pandemic as a case study.

Miguel Poiares Maduro (Edited by), Paul W. Kahn (Edited by)

9781108845366, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 12 November 2020

250 pages
24 x 16 x 2 cm, 0.5 kg

'This book offers a deep and comprehensive reflection on the impact of the pandemic on democratic societies, under many different angles and perspectives. It is a thought-provoking reading, to be put on the top of the list of the books that help understanding the social and institutional transformation that is taking place under the pressure of the emergency.' Marta Cartabia, Former President of the Italian Constitutional Court, Professor of Constitutional Law, Bocconi University, Milan

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.

Introduction: a new beginning Miguel Poiares Maduro and Paul W. Kahn
Part I. Power: 1. The crisis of democratic leadership in times of pandemic Neil Walker
2. Executive overreach and underreach in the pandemic Kim Lane Scheppele and David Pozen
3. From political accountability to criminal liability: the strange case of French penal populism Olivier Beaud
4. Democracy and emergency in Latin America Roberto Gargarella
5. Apocalyptic Christianity, democracy, and the pandemic Stanley Hauerwas
Part II. Knowledge: 6. The reckoning: evaluating democratic leadership Michael Ignatieff
7. The irrelevance of the pandemic Samuel Moyn
8. Emergency, democracy and public discourse Moshe Halbertal
9. Understanding, deciding, and learning: the key political challenges in times of pandemic Daniel Innerarity
Part III. Citizens: 10. COVID, Europe and the self-asphyxiation of democracy J. H. H. Weiler
11. Corona as chance: overcoming the tyranny of self-interest Susan Neiman
12. Re-imagined democracy in times of pandemic Kalypso Nicolaïdes
13. Redefining vulnerability and state-society relationships during the COVID-19 crisis: the politics of social welfare funds in India and Italy Deval Desai, Shalini Randeria and Christine Lutringer
14. Democracy and the obligations of care: a demos worthy of sacrifice Paul W. Kahn.

Subject Areas: Public international law [LBB], Political science & theory [JPA], Sociology [JHB], Globalization [JFFS], Social forecasting, future studies [JFFR], Social impact of disasters [JFFC], Social & political philosophy [HPS], General & world history [HBG]