Answer to Question #268214 in Sociology for Love love

Question

Provide a definition of democrace, then discuss the impact of covid-19 pandemic on the notion of democracy in South Africa.

Answer 1

Democracy is a system of government in which power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or through freely elected representatives. The term is derived from the Greek ‘demokratia,’ which was invented in the 5th century BCE to denote the political systems of some Greek city-states, notably Athens.

The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled a crisis for democracy around the world. Since the coronavirus outbreak began, the condition of democracy and human rights has grown worse in South Africa. The government has responded by engaging in abuses of power, silencing their critics, and weakening or shuttering important institutions, often undermining the very systems of accountability needed to protect public health. The government took coronavirus as the opportunity to demolish democratic space.

The research strongly supports the hypothesis that the COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating the 14 years of consecutive decline in freedom. Not only has democracy weakened in South Africa, but the problem is particularly acute in struggling democracies and highly repressive states; in other words, settings that already had weak safeguards against abuse of power are suffering the most.