The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy launches a series of commentaries on the effects of the novel coronavirus on democratic experiences around the globe.

The pandemic is not just an epidemiological phenomenon – it is also a political, economic, and social one. In this series, we explore how this general “emergency” translates into democratic and authoritarian practice - across scales, and in different facets of life, from the institutional to the intimate. It raises a range of new challenges to democracy and human rights, during and after the emergency. Some of the restrictions that have been implemented by liberal and illiberal democracies may well outlive the crisis. The Centre aims to contribute to the public and scholarly debate on these major issues through its ongoing and new research activities.

Contributors to its new series of commentaries include the Democracy Centre’s team, faculty and visiting lecturers. We also collaborate with our partner institutions to publish some joint contributions.

Part 1: March-May 2020

• 26 March 2020: 
  Hungary' emergency law, by Kim Lane Scheppele

• 02 April 2020:    
  The future of work in the post-Covid-19 digital era, by Maria Mexi

• 06 April 2020:    
  European far right and the rival virus, by Anton Shekhovtsov

• 14 April 2020:     
  Democracy and the Great Pestilence, by John Keane

• 15 April 2020:      
  If Bolsonaro had read Machiavelli, by Yanina Welp

• 17 April 2020:      
  Copycat coronavirus policies will soon come to an end, by Ivan Krastev

• 20 April 2020:     
  Union européenne : Rester ensemble après le Coronavirus? by Jérôme Duberry

• 29 April 2020:      
  India's lockdown, by Lore Vandewalle

• 30 April 2020:      
  Defending Press Freedom in the Time of Coronavirus, by Shalini Randeria

• 04 May 2020:      
  Making democracy safe for an age of pandemics, by Till Van Rahden

• 05 May 2020:      
  Pandemic and Political Geographies, by Michael Goebel

• 11 May 2020:       
  The pandemic and the urban migrant, by Amita Bhide

• 14 May 2020:      
  The risk of democratic backsliding in Latin America during the pandemic, by Dinorah Azpuru

• 15 May 2020:      
  Penser l’après : La géopolitique du monde qui vient, by Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou

• 20 May 2020:     
  The Pandemic, the American ‘Peace Plan’ and (what is left of) Palestine, by Riccardo Bocco

Read Part 2 of the commentaries published from June to August 2020 and Part 3 published from September onwards.