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

Michele Roccato, Nicoletta Cavazza, Pasquale Colloca and Silvia Russo

Social Science Quarterly, 2020, vol. 101, issue 6, 2193-2202

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.

Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12865

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:socsci:v:101:y:2020:i:6:p:2193-2202

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=0038-4941

Access Statistics for this article

Social Science Quarterly is currently edited by Robert L. Lineberry

More articles in Social Science Quarterly from Southwestern Social Science Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().