Il tempo della pandemia: accelerazione politica e democrazia nella crisi emergenziale

This paper considers the dangers of the acceleration of political processes in a situation of emergency, which is characterized by panic and emotions of fear. The pandemic is seen as a kind of laboratory, that shows that a situation of fear and political acceleration leads to eventual stresses and crisis experienced by the political and juridical institutions. Political acceleration and fear are some of the preconditions of the exercise of an arbitrary power, unlimited and disruptive with regards to the rule of law. In this perspective both populism and the pandemic may potentially put democratic and liberal institutions under stress.