Is European democracy thriving, doubted or feeble in the Covid-19 pandemic era?

Beijen HSU

Master's thesis

A comparative study on emergency laws of France and Hungary

Abstract:

The Covid-19 health crisis was changing European democracy since it hit upon the European continent in 2020. Countries introduced emergency regimes to implement swift and stringent pandemic measures, which at the same time restricted human rights and civil spaces. This thesis sought to discover how emergency powers affect democratic functioning in two specific countries - France and Hungary during the pandemic by looking into their emergency legislations, and a theoretical argument was made: states were using emergency powers to restrain democracy and fundamental rights in the Covid-19 public health crisis. France as a typical democratic country topped the list of European "flaw democracies" in 2021 as emergency measures have crippled democratic freedoms; Hungary also underwent a rollback of democracy due to long-standing emergency regimes and powers granted to the government to rule by decree. I drew from the framework of constitutional emergency powers and grounded my argument on democratic theory. I utilized legal comparison and critical content analysis to investigate how constitutional and statutory emergency regimes have affected public health policy-making and emergency measures. A conclusion was made: with checks and balances on the imposition of emergency states and the power between the executive and the legislative, emergency regimes could be seen as a necessary evil to deal with the health crisis, yet they should never overstep the temporality and proportionality.

Abstract:

The Covid-19 health crisis was changing European democracy since it hit upon the European continent in 2020. Countries introduced emergency regimes to implement swift and stringent pandemic measures, which at the same time restricted human rights and civil spaces. This thesis sought to discover how emergency powers affect democratic functioning in two specific countries - France and Hungary during the pandemic by looking into their emergency legislations, and a theoretical argument was made: states were using emergency powers to restrain democracy and fundamental rights in the Covid-19 public health crisis. France as a typical democratic country topped the list of European "flaw democracies" in 2021 as emergency measures have crippled democratic freedoms; Hungary also underwent a rollback of democracy due to long-standing emergency regimes and powers granted to the government to rule by decree. I drew from the framework of constitutional emergency powers and grounded my argument on democratic theory. I utilized legal comparison and critical content analysis to investigate how constitutional and statutory emergency regimes have affected public health policy-making and emergency measures. A conclusion was made: with checks and balances on the imposition of emergency states and the power between the executive and the legislative, emergency regimes could be seen as a necessary evil to deal with the health crisis, yet they should never overstep the temporality and proportionality.

Keywords

state of emergency, Covid-19 pandemic, democracy, France, Hungary

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 1. 8. 2022

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Gökhan Bacik, Ph.D.

Palacký University Olomouc

Faculty of Arts

Master programme / field:
Humanities / Euroculture