Impact of the Pandemic on Damaging the Democratic Process in a Hybrid Regime in Georgia

Abstract

In hybrid political system of Georgia, in condition of COVID-19, the population obeyed control and strict regulations. Concepts such as the Iron Curtain, curfew, etc., have returned to the country’s political vocabulary. How can these symbols of a totalitarian (Soviet) past fit into the process of democratization? What is the reaction of society, other political actors? Why and how pandemic damaged democracy in Georgia? Does this threaten to revise the concept of a democratic political system, which will be especially difficult for post-totalitarian society? This research paper examines case of Georgia: how political institutions, political elite, society, Media, the country’s legislative base was ready for new reality and what political consequences this crisis would have in the process of democratization and nation-building. Unfair political competition during the elections, the growth of populism, the partial abandonment of certain rights, the deepening of polarization, etc. – are these challenges related only to the pandemic or have they also threatened Georgian democracy in “normal” times?