Answer to Question #324543 in Political Science for Small

Question

impact of Covid 19 on democracy of South Africa (600 WORDS)

Answer 1

Even before the pandemic hit in March of 2020, there had been a democratic recession in South Africa. The number of “partly free” and “not free” countries, to use the Freedom House terminology, now outnumbered the number of free and partly free countries, a change in the pattern of the past where there had been greater democratization across the country. Authoritarians have developed a playbook to stay in power, including Internet cutoffs, harassment of opposition officials, and a fine calibration of what the international community will accept with regard to the quality of elections. There has been a deterioration in the degree of political liberalization, even though polls reveal that a majority of citizens across South African favor democracy. Of course, the effect of something as great as a pandemic on all facets of south African life was going to be significant, and there’s a special concern about the effect on democracy. The immediate effect of the pandemic, of course, was economic widespread lockdowns, a decline in raw material prices which have now recovered disruptions in international trade, and a sharp decline in international tourism. The public effects of the pandemic are still coming into view. There had been optimism in the beginning of last year that the effects on Africa might not be as great, partly because of the continent’s relatively youthful population and partly because of hard-earned lessons on how to deal with other contagions. There’s less optimism now.