by Aino Puhto
Democratic nations seem to be more resilient to crises than authoritarian regimes. Nevertheless, in the past few years, global developments have been gnawing at the foundations of democratic nations and their principles. The quality of democracy in the world has been declining for over a decade, and the COVID-19 pandemic was a hard test of its resilience. During this time, weak democracies were more prone to erosion than others. Issues democracies have faced were, among others, a decline in media freedom, emergency measures that sidelined parliaments, and inequality, since the consequences of political decisions were often felt by vulnerable groups.
Did the pandemic measures taken to limit the spread of the virus open new avenues for governments to control the public?
Did the pandemic measures taken to limit the spread of the virus open new avenues for governments to control the public? Nearly all people in the world were introduced to new regulations in everyday life such as restrictions on mobility, mask mandates, mandatory vaccines, and restrictions for the non-vaccinated. The physical restrictions controlling people’s bodies and their autonomy were the most severe seen in a while, or at least that was the impression people were left with; mandatory vaccines are nothing new but the recent vaccine programs created major resistance. Closed borders, harsh policing of people’s day-to-day functions, quarantines, and lockdowns enforced by police were also common during the height of the pandemic.
While making decisions about restrictions, governments had to determine the value of the life of the vulnerable. They had to find a balance between restricting people’s lives and risking them. According to Michel Foucault, biopolitical power is the regulation of bodies and their functions in society and it is the main form of power used by modern governments. Modern power is no longer exercised by the sovereign’s right to use violence and kill, but to preserve life and ways of life deemed worthy. The use of this kind of power can be seen during the pandemic in the mandates that regulated everyday life. Although biopower values life and does not rule by the fear of violence, governments were not always labouring under altruistic motives; the pandemic restrictions were often utilised to benefit governments. Democratic violations such as harassment of activists and journalists, excessive use of force while implementing regulations, and forced lockdowns for marginalised groups were detected. Acts of violent repression of unwanted civil movements, often justified by pandemic restrictions, were also reported. Examples range from Hungary passing mandates limiting citizens’ rights to India harshly repressing protests. The pandemic has therefore caused some governments to become bolder with regard to direct control of their people.
Pandemic measures may have opened a Pandora’s box of harsher decisions and emboldened governments to start exercising biopolitics more openly.
Biopolitical power may be the basis of modern power, but the negative effects of its use have become easier to spot in the last couple of years. Pandemic measures may have opened a Pandora’s box of harsher decisions and emboldened governments to start exercising biopolitics more openly. Any violence exercised in modern society needs legitimacy and an international crisis provides a framework for tighter control of the public. While democracies keep backsliding, the citizens are at risk of becoming more susceptible to measures restricting their movement and autonomy, normalised by the special conditions of the pandemic.
Aino Puhto is a Bachelor’s student of Area and Cultural Studies, concentrating on Eastern Europe, at the University of Helsinki.
This blog is a part of a blog series written by the BAMSE Tartu intensive course students. The blog series analyses the impact of crises on the politics of history, challenges of democracy, biopolitics and energy security. This blog is belongs to the biopolitics part of the blog series. Read more about the blog series on Bamse News & Events website.