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

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.