A Democratic Emergency After a Health Emergency? Exposure to COVID‐19, Perceived Economic Threat and Support for Anti‐Democratic Political Systems

Abstract

Objectives. The urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic has led governments to impose restrictions on individual freedom and required citizens to comply with these restrictions. In addition, lockdowns related to COVID-19 have led to a significant economic crisis. We aimed to study how the pandemic and related economic threats have impacted support for anti-democratic political systems. Method. We analyzed data from a quota panel of the Italian adult population (N = 1,195), surveyed once before and once during the pandemic. Results. A hierarchical regression model showed that exposure to COVID-19 and perceived economic insecurity were associated with support for anti-democratic political systems, independent of participants' predispositions toward a strong leader. Conclusion. An authoritarian personality is not a necessary precondition for individual anti-democracy: when facing severe personal threats, anyone could restore a subjective sense of control over the social world by becoming anti-democratic, independent of their initial predisposition to support anti-democratic political systems. The majority of the world population is facing threats stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, a virus for which there is not yet a cure or vaccine. No fundamental scientific information on COVID-19 is available: we do not know enough about its contagiousness and speed of mutation nor whether those who have recovered from COVID-19 are immune to reinfection. This crisis has forced millions of people to cope with a severe and previously unknown existential threat to their survival and that of the people they love. The lack of reliable forecasts regarding when and how the threat will end has added further psychological distress. Many nations have tackled this health emergency by adopting strict lockdown measures. Citizens' compliance with governmental restrictions on their individual liberties implies that they perceive these authorities as empowered to impose limitations on their civil rights. This climate of urgency, which has led to the imposition of measures that restrict freedom, raises questions about the impact of the current situation on citizens' proneness to submit to authorities. Moreover, the pandemic is concurrent with what could be the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression of 1929. The suspension of a large portion of production activities for weeks or even months has provoked a significant drop

The Lasting Effects of the COVID‐19 Pandemic on Support for Anti‐Democratic Political Systems: A Six‐Month Longitudinal Study

“…Before COVID-19, the literature mainly focused on the existential threats stemming from natural disasters (e.g., Russo et al, 2020), climate disasters (e.g., Zapata, 2018), and economic crises (e.g., Chen, 2010), showing the role of compensatory sources of control played by religion (e.g., Sibley and Bulbulia, 2012), the government (e.g., Oneal, Lian, and Joyner, 1996), and, most importantly for this study, anti-democratic authorities (Mirisola et al, 2014). In line with this, more recent studies indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in religiousness and church attendance (e.g., Molteni et al, 2021), trust in the government (e.g., Bol et al, 2021), and anti-democratic attitudes and preferences (e.g., Amat et al, 2020;Roccato et al, 2020). Amat et al (2020), using a mix of experimental and survey data, showed that in Spain the COVID-19 pandemic has fostered a widespread demand for strong leadership and even a willingness to tackle the crisis by giving up some individual freedom.…”

“…Amat et al (2020), using a mix of experimental and survey data, showed that in Spain the COVID-19 pandemic has fostered a widespread demand for strong leadership and even a willingness to tackle the crisis by giving up some individual freedom. In a longitudinal study performed in Italy, Roccato et al (2020) showed that COVID-19 exposure and perceived economic threats were positively associated with support for anti-democratic political systems, independent of participants' prepandemic predisposition toward them. But how long does this effect persist?…”

Household crowding can have political effects: An empirical study on support for anti-democratic political systems during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy

“…Based on r = 0.51, p < .001, we computed a mean index for these items, with higher scores indicating support for anti-democratic political systems (cf. Roccato et al, 2020 ).…”

“Everything Will Be All Right!” National and European Identification as Predictors of Positive Expectations for the Future During the COVID-19 Emergency

“…Notably, research on the so-called "rally-round-the-flag" effect (Mueller, 1970) highlighted that, in difficult situations such as terrorist attacks, wars, or pandemics, people set aside political differences and show surging support for the figures or institutions representing the nation under assault (Esaiasson et al, 2020). In line with this contention, several studies revealed increased institutional trust during the COVID-19 crisis in various countries, including Italy (Bol et al, 2020;Falcone et al, 2020;Roccato et al, 2020). In turn, higher level of trust in the government with regard to its ability to control COVID-19 was significantly associated with greater compliance with measures such as frequent hand-washing, avoidance of crowded spaces, and social isolation or quarantine (Han et al, 2021; see also Harring et al, 2021).…”