Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of life – political, economic, religious. It has led to millions of people being infected, a large number of deaths (in early December the number was approaching 1.5 million), severe health consequences for many of those who have survived the disease, and a powerful economic cri‑sis resulting in tens of millions of people around the world losing their jobs. The health care system in most countries has been rocked to its core. Many countries’ introduction of measures aimed at preventing the spread of the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2), especially those that limit the ability to move around in the public sphere and call for social distancing and mask wearing, has caused an explosion of social protests, an increased distrust of both the authorities who have introduced various restrictions and the scientists and healthcare workers who have recommended these restrictions, as well as an unprecedented flourishing of various conspiracy theories. Some of these theories go so far as to suggest that the pandemic is a creation or invention of those holding global power, who are now striving for the total and unprecedented enslavement of billions of people and complete control over all aspects of the lives of individuals and societies. These phenomena are felt particularly acutely in democratic states, which are inherently more sensitive to social tensions. For the pandemic has deepened the already existing crisis not only of democratic-liberal institutions, but also of the entire intellectual “spirit” of this socio-political formation. The most spectacular exemplification of this phenomenon are the events surrounding the United States presidential election, which – in the opinion of some experts – may lead to a serious crisis in democratic procedures in the country considered the leader of the free world.