Political philosophy

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Greek Govt Accused of Dodging Democratic Oversight

Czechs Fear Autocratic Contagion

Hungary 'No Longer a Democracy'

The reason, experts say, is that people prioritise security in times of terror — an instinct easily exploited by illiberal governments keen to tighten their grip on power.

In 2019, the year before COVID-19 containment measures were widely introduced by EU Member States, unemployment rates continued to vary widely across the NUTS 2 regions of the EU's 27 Member States.

"Let us not forget that economics is a moral science," Emmanuel Macron told the Financial Times in a recent interview. This is one of the central thoughts animating the work of Amartya Sen, a Nobel prize winner in the dismal science but also a renowned political philosopher.

The novel coronavirus outbreak has shown once again the importance of a strong social state, the leader of the main opposition party has said, urging that the focus of the economy should shift from attaining maximum profit to providing a humane life standard for everybody.

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Live: Coronavirus Updates

Czechs Fear Autocratic Contagion

Why Populists Love the Pandemic

Hungary 'No Longer a Democracy'

Although Greece has made strides in digitizing governance and public administration in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which provided an urgent impetus for the reduction of face-to-face exchanges, the government's efforts have been partially thwarted by pushback from state functionaries and professionals, Kathimerini understands. 

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Why Populists Love the Pandemic

In Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and (in a way) the UK, anti-establishment populists now lead governments; in Germany, France, and Italy, they are major components of the parliamentary opposition.

The responses to crises come in two phases. First, governments respond in predictable ways, consistent with how they have acted before. But then crises have a longer-lasting power, and that is to shift our thinking about what governments should do. The coronavirus is a totemic case in this respect.

Times like these test leaders. In a world full of fear and noise, a small group is called upon to take decisions that will determine the fate of their people. No one was elected on the basis of their program for dealing with a pandemic but their legacy will depend on how they handled this threat to all of us. Their decisions will either alleviate the damage or compound it.

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Hungarian Coronavirus Bill Will Have 'Chilling Effect' on Media

Orban Using Coronavirus Crisis to Cement Power, Critics Say

Europe's Other Coronavirus Victim: Information and Data Rights