Pandemocracy in Europe: Power, Parliaments and People in Times of COVID-19
Year: 2023
Type: book-review
Abstract: Pandemocracy in Europe is an anthology that chronicles and evaluates how seven European jurisdictions (the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Hungary, Switzerland, and France) have confronted the pandemic. These individual country studies—authored by a broad range of scholars in political science, international relations, and law—all explore differing elements of democracy with an emphasis on constitutional law and the rule of law. Two main challenges are addressed: first, the need for Europe to develop adequate and effective responses to a pandemic, both now and in the future; and, second, the challenge for Europe to uphold democratic values when responding to a pandemic.1 An initial and more general observation would be that the overall structure and individual parts provide the reader with the impression that the publication takes a critical stance on how European governments have managed the pandemic. Consider the book’s description on the cover: Have democracies successfully mastered the challenges of the pandemic? How has the coronavirus impacted democratic principles, processes and values? At the heels of the worst public health crisis in living memory, this book shines an unforgiving light on the side-lining of parliaments, the ruling by governmental decrees and the disenfranchisement of the people in the name of fighting COVID-19.
DOI: 10.1093/ajcl/avad025
Author: Yvette Lind
Institution: BI Norwegian Business School
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4387841970