UC Irvine

This addresses the long term impact of the Covid 19 pandemic. The pandemic has engendered fear and uncertainty. In the process, the political elites and democratic institutions have been de-legitimated. Similarly the authority of cultural and scientific elites and their institutions has been undermined. This is part of a larger process that is fueled by the difficulty citizens have dealing with the uncertain, complex nature of the social and political world they are asked to navigate. As such, the pandemic accelerates the decline of democracy as citizens freely opt for populist and authoritarian alternatives.