ABSTRACT
The aim of the analysis presented in this chapter is to show whether there is a causal link between the crisis caused by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the decline in democratic standards in countries such as the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary. The research question is: Has the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic contributed to the weakening of democracy, the disruption, or abandonment of norms sustaining institutional order, the mutual relations between the rulers and the ruled, and has it thwarted or, conversely, encouraged protests? The subjects of the analysis are the institutional framework of the crisis, social communication, and social protests – to give a few examples. The pandemic acted as an accelerator, stimulating processes whose origin was already smouldering before its occurrence in each context. From a broader comparative perspective, pandemic-control strategies were more likely to be effective in countries with consolidated democracies, where governments invested in additional, expert forms of communication, abandoning the demonstration of omniscience with regard to doctors, health personnel, medical managers, and their involvement in the decision-making process. Countries with fully authoritarianist regimes opted for immediate action with the purpose of isolating the population, under the threat of strong sanctions.
