Demokracja, siły zbrojne i pandemia COVID-19 w Ameryce Łacińskiej
Democracy, the Armed Forces and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Latin America

Author(s): Michał Stelmach
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Civil Society, Military policy, Health and medicine and law
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
Keywords: pandemic; democracy; public policy; militarization; Latin America
Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to analyze civil-military relations in Latin America during theCOVID-19 pandemic. The priority is to show the role of the army in sanitary and orderactivities, as well as to examine the impact of the militarization of health policy on thecondition of democracy in the countries of the region. The author formulated two researchhypotheses: 1. the scope and intensity of the use of armed forces in the fight against thepandemic is correlated with the effectiveness of civilian state institutions and the type ofpolitical system; 2. the development of the pandemic in 2020 has significantly contributedto the change in the balance of power between civilian and military institutions, and whatis more, to the deepening of the processes of politization of the armed forces and the militarizationof politics in Latin America. The article consists of four parts. The first examinesthe changes in relations between civilian and military institutions and the role and positionof the armed forces in Latin American countries during the period of democratic transition.In the second, the author reviewed the evolution of civil-military relations in thefirst two decades of the 21st century, revealing new forms of militarism. The third partof the text examines the state of civil-military relations in the 21st century in the context ofthe crisis of democracy and the wave of social protests. In the fourth part, the author analyzedthe ways and scope of using the armed forces in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemicand the effects of the militarization of public policy on Latin American democracies.

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