NAVIGATING DEMOCRACY IN A PANDEMIC: THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON PUBLIC DEBATE AND DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES

Maja Pucelj; Angelo Viglianisi Ferraro; Anthony Hunt

doi:10.14210/nej.v29n3.p866-899

Autores

Maja Pucelj Faculty of Organisation Studies in Novo Mesto https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9063-9080
Angelo Viglianisi Ferraro Mediterranea University of Reggio Calbria https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6480-3684
Anthony Hunt The University of Texas at Austin https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2513-143X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14210/nej.v29n3.p866-899

Palavras-chave:

COVID-19, Debate Público, Desinformação, Notícias falsas, Confiança Pública nas Instituições

Resumo

Contextualização: Este estudo examina o impacto da pandemia de COVID-19 no discurso democrático em nove países europeus: Bulgária, Chipre, França, Itália, Grécia, Portugal, Eslovênia, Suécia e Espanha. A pesquisa foca em desafios-chave, como a tomada de decisões governamentais, transparência, confiança nas instituições, escrutínio do processo eleitoral e a influência da mídia e dos protestos sociais na formação do debate público. O estudo faz parte do projeto EU CERV HEARD.

Objetivos: O principal objetivo é investigar como a pandemia afetou o discurso democrático, com foco nas perspectivas de cidadãos europeus sub-representados. O estudo também explora a relação entre crises de saúde e desigualdades sociais, destacando a importância de medidas legais que protejam o engajamento democrático durante crises.

Metodologia: A Análise Temática Reflexiva (ATR) foi utilizada para analisar dados qualitativos de debates em painéis realizados em nove países entre abril e junho de 2023. Um total de 313 participantes contribuiu, e as discussões foram transcritas e codificadas sistematicamente para identificar temas-chave relacionados ao impacto da pandemia nos processos democráticos.

Resultados: Os resultados indicam que a pandemia impactou negativamente a democracia, com relatos de exploração do poder por políticos nacionais e um aumento da desinformação. O estudo também destaca como a pandemia agravou as desigualdades sociais, especialmente na participação democrática. No entanto, as conclusões são limitadas pela falta de diversidade entre os participantes, e pesquisas futuras devem incluir uma amostra mais ampla e avaliar os efeitos de longo prazo da pandemia na democracia.

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Biografia do Autor

Maja Pucelj, Faculty of Organisation Studies in Novo Mesto

Graduated from the Faculty of Public Administration in Ljubljana and the Faculty of Management in Koper, and received her master's degree from the New University Faculty of government and European Studies and the European Faculty of Law. She completed her first doctorate at Alma Mater Europaea - ISH in the field of humanities, and completed her second doctorate by New University Faculty of government and European Studies in the field of international studies with an emphasis on human rights. She started her career as a policewoman, where she also participated in a special police unit, she continued her career as a risk manager, head of legal services in the field of leasing and banking, as a director of marketing and auditor in an audit company. Before joining EMUNI and FOŠ, she worked as an advisor to the Minister of Education, Science and Sport in the fields of pre-school education, primary education, secondary and higher education, adult education and the quality of education and as an undersecretary in the Cohesion Policy department at the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports. She is an author of numerous works in the field of integration of Muslims into Western countries, Islamophobia and questioning the meaningfulness of the ban on covering the face in the context of the human rights of Muslim women.

Angelo Viglianisi Ferraro, Mediterranea University of Reggio Calbria

Aggregate Professor and the Erasmus Coordinator, Department of Law, Economics and Human Science, Mediterranea University of Reggio Calbria.

Anthony Hunt, The University of Texas at Austin

Human Resources Director with an extensive educational and professional background. He holds a Ph.D. in Human Resources Development from Texas A&M University, a Master’s in Business Administration from Oklahoma State University, a Master’s in Human Resources and a Master’s of International Relations, both from the University of Oklahoma, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Central Oklahoma.

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