The Polish Government's Response to COVID-19 Protests: Restrictions and Contradictions in "Moments of Madness"
| Dublin Core | PKP Metadata Items | Metadata for this Document | |
| 1. | Title | Title of document | The Polish Government's Response to COVID-19 Protests: Restrictions and Contradictions in "Moments of Madness" |
| 2. | Creator | Author's name, affiliation, country | Anna Radiukiewicz |
| 2. | Creator | Author's name, affiliation, country | Alan Żukowski |
| 2. | Creator | Author's name, affiliation, country | Joshua K. Dubrow |
| 3. | Subject | Discipline(s) | |
| 3. | Subject | Keyword(s) | COVID-19; government response; moments of madness; Poland; protests |
| 4. | Description | Abstract | The COVID-19 pandemic produced "moments of madness" (Zolberg 1972), a temporary feeling that everything has changed and all things are possible. While usually viewed as an opportunity for the masses to envision positive change, we argue that governments also feel "moments of madness", and in their crisis response, they may attempt to deepen their institutional power. As this is particularly troublesome in countries with authoritarian tendencies, we examined national laws and public statements of leading Polish members of government about street protest in 2020. The PiS-led government implemented European Union and WHO-recommended social distancing measures that curtailed constitutional freedoms of the right to peaceful assembly. They executed these measures via governmental decrees rather than primary legislative acts and thus normatively ruled out street protests. The government framed themselves as defenders of civil liberties and promoters of social solidarity and argued that the restrictions are essential for public safety. At the same time, they contradicted these frames by disparaging political opponents who engaged in street protests as immoral threats to public health. We highlight the tensions and trade-offs between public health and civil liberties and offer an extension and critique of the "moments of madness" thesis. |
| 5. | Publisher | Organizing agency, location | Coordinamento SIBA - Università del Salento |
| 6. | Contributor | Sponsor(s) | Università del Salento - Coordinamento SIBA |
| 7. | Date | (YYYY-MM-DD) | 2024-10-08 |
| 8. | Type | Status & genre | Peer-reviewed Article |
| 8. | Type | Type | |
| 9. | Format | File format | |
| 10. | Identifier | Uniform Resource Identifier | http://siba-ese.unisalento.it/index.php/paco/article/view/29514 |
| 10. | Identifier | Digital Object Identifier | 10.1285/i20356609v17i2p541 |
| 11. | Source | Publication/conference title; vol., no. (year) | PARTECIPAZIONE E CONFLITTO; Vol. 17, No. 2 (2024). Special issue on: "Freedom and the Illiberal Zeitgeist in East-Central Europe - a Conflict-Laden Relationship" |
| 12. | Language | English=en | |
| 13. | Relation | Supp. Files | |
| 14. | Coverage | Geo-spatial location, chronological period, research sample (gender, age, etc.) | Lecce, Italy |
| 15. | Rights | Copyright and permissions | Authors who publish with PACO agree to the Creative Commons Attribution-Non commercial-Share alike 3.0 Italian License Copyrights of each article are hold by the University of Salento. PACO allows author(s) to retain publishing rights under permission of the Editorial Staff. But Authors are requested to always indicate that the first version of the article has been published in "Partecipazione e conflitto". |