Abstract
Full Text
The Use of Medical Populism to Claim the Right to Rule in Poland during a Public Health Emergency
Joanna Rak
This article aims to give insight into discursive means used by rulers in Poland to claim the right to rule during a public health emergency. Grounded in Johannes Gerschewski’s, Christian von Soest’s and Julia Grauvogel’s theory of legitimacy claims and Gideon Lasco’s theory of medical populism, the study identifies the evolution and characteristics of legitimacy claims at pandemic junctures critical to political regime stability. By using content and thematic analysis of news distributed by partisan media, the study uncovers justifications for autocratic rule in Poland aimed at shaping elite cohesion, opposition activity, and the potential political support of the ruled. Legitimacy claims rested upon non-medical and medical populism to a large extent. The latter provided semantic structures useful to account for the unprecedented extension of the ruling party’s power competencies and limitation of personal and civic freedoms. Moreover, while claims of dramatic restrictions and lockdowns marked the pandemic’s beginning, its further stages brought out a “vaccine messianism” and optimism related to crisis management performance.
References
Alagappa, Muthiah. 1995. “The Bases of Legitimacy.” In Political Legitimacy in Southeast Asia: The Quest for Moral Authority, ed. Muthiah Alagappa, 31–53. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.
Bill, Stanley, and Ben Stanley. 2020. “Whose Poland Is It to Be? PiS and the Struggle between Monism and Pluralism.” East European Politics 36(3): 378–394. https://doi.org/10.1080/21599165.2020.1787161.
Bowen, Glenn A. 2009. “Document Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method.” Qualitative Research Journal 9(2): 27–40. https://doi.org/10.3316/QRJ0902027.
Brubaker, Rogers. 2018. “Why Populism?.” In Populism and the Crisis of Democracy, eds Gregor Fitzi, Jürgen Mackert, and Bryan S. Turner, 27–46. London and New York: Routledge.
Brubaker, Rogers. 2020. “Populism and Nationalism.” Nations and Nationalism 26(1): 44–66. https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12522.
De La Torre, Carlos, and Oscar Mazzoleni. 2019. “Do We Need a Minimum Definition of Populism? An Appraisal of Mudde’s Conceptualization.” Populism 2(1): 79–95. https://doi.org/10.1163/25888072-02011021.
Eberl, Jakob-Moritz, Robert A. Huber, and Esther Greussing. 2021. “From Populism to the “Plandemic”: Why Populists Believe in COVID-19 Conspiracies.” Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties 31(1): 272–284. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457289.2021.1924730.
Fischbacher-Smith, Denis. 2021. “Suppressing the Seeker of Truth in the Covid-19 Pandemic: Medical Populism, Radical Uncertainty, and the Assault on Expertise.” In The New Authoritarianism, ed. Alan Waring, 301–346. Verlag, Stuttgard: Ibidem.
Francia, Peter L. 2018. “Free Media and Twitter in the 2016 Presidential Election: The Unconventional Campaign of Donald Trump.” Social Science Computer Review 36(4): 440–455. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439317730302.
Gerschewski, Johannes. 2013. “The Three Pillars of Stability: Legitimation, Repression, and Co-optation in Autocratic Regimes.” Democratisation 20(1): 13–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2013.738860.
Hedges, Kristin, and Gideon Lasco. 2021. “Medical Populism and COVID-19 Testing.” Open Anthropological Research 1(1): 73–86. https://doi.org/10.1515/opan-2020-0109.
Institute for Media Monitoring. 2020. “The Most Opinion-forming Media in 2020.” Available at https://www.imm.com.pl/najbardziej-opiniotworcze-media-w-polsce-2020-raport-roczny/.
Kozielski, Maciej. 2021. “‘Fakty’ przed ‘Wiadomościami’ w 2020 roku, widzów straciły ‘Wydarzenia’.” Available at https://www.press.pl/tresc/64474,_fakty_-przed-_wiadomosciami_-w-2020-roku_-widzow-stracily-_wydarzenia_.
Landman, Todd, and Luca Di Gennaro Splendore. 2020. “Pandemic Democracy: Elections and COVID-19.” Journal of Risk Research 23(7–8): 1060–1066. https://doi.org/10.1080/13669877.2020.1765003.
Lasco, Gideon. 2020a. “Challenging World Leaders amid Medical Populism.” The Lancet 396(10265): 1802–1803. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32377-1.
Lasco, Gideon. 2020b. “Medical Populism and the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Global Public Health 15(10): 1417–1429. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2020.1807581.
Lasco, Gideon, and Heidi J. Larson. 2020. “Medical Populism and Immunisation Programmes: Illustrative Examples and Consequences for Public Health.” Global Public Health 15(3): 334–344. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2019.1680724.
Lasco, Gideon, and Nicole Curato. 2019. “Medical Populism.” Social Science & Medicine 221: 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.12.006.
Lasco, Gideon, and Vincen Gregory Yu. 2021. “Medical Populism and the Politics of Dengue Epidemics in the Global South.” Global Public Health, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2021.1965181.
ODIHR. 2020. “ODIHR Special Election Assessment Mission, Republic of Poland, Presidential Election.” Available at: https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/4/9/455728.pdf.
Pytlas, Bartek. 2021. “Party Organisation of PiS in Poland: Between Electoral Rhetoric and Absolutist Practice.” Politics and Governance 9(4): 340–353. https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v9i4.4479.
Rak, Joanna, Roman Bäcker, and Przemysław Osiewicz. 2021. “The Right to Exercise Protest Under Threat? Between the Rise of Autocracy and Democratic Resilience in Crisis-Driven Poland.” Political Life 3: 5–10.
Rezmer-Płotka, Kamila. 2021. “Contentious Politics in Defense of Neo-Militant Democracy in Poland: The Rationale Behind Fighting a Quasi-Militant Democracy.” HAPSc Policy Briefs Series 2(1): 24–29. https://doi.org/10.12681/hapscpbs.27652.
Singer, Brian CJ. 2021. “Populism and the Separation of Power and Knowledge.” Thesis Eleven 164(1): 120–143. https://doi.org/10.1177/0725513620983685.
Szuleka, Małgorzata, Marcin Wolny, and Marcin Szwed. 2016. The Constitutional Crisis in Poland (2015-2016). Warsaw: Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights.
Tannenberg, Marcus, Michael Bernhard, Johannes Gerschewski, Anna Lührmann, and Christian von Soest. 2021. “Claiming the Right to Rule: Regime Legitimation Strategies from 1900 to 2019.” European Political Science Review13(1): 77–94. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755773920000363.
Thomson, Stephen, and Eric C. Ip. 2020. “COVID-19 Emergency Measures and the Impending Authoritarian Pandemic.” Journal of Law and the Biosciences 7(1): 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1093/jlb/lsaa064.
Tucak, Ivana, and Anita Blagojević. 2021. “COVID-19 Pandemic and the Protection of the Right to Abortion.” EU and Comparative Law Issues and Challenges Series 5: 853–877. https://doi.org/10.25234/eclic/18355.
TVN 24. “Sondaż: orzeczenie Trybunału Konstytucyjnego w sprawie aborcji popiera 13 procent pytanych.” Available at https://tvn24.pl/polska/aborcja-sondaz-kantar-czy-aborcja-powinna-byc-w-polsce-legalna-4734145.
TVP. 2020, March 6. “Krzysztof Ziemiec: dziś koktajl Mołotowa, jutro może przyjść ktoś z siekierą.” Available athttp://www.tvp.info/47003136/krzysztof-ziemiec-skomentowal-ostatni-atak-na-siedzibe-telewizji-polskiej-wieszwiecej.
TVP. 2020, March 16. “KOD protestował mimo epidemii.” Available at http://www.tvp.info/47145758/protesty-kod-w-czasie-epidemii-miroslaw-suchon-ko-konstytucja-nie-obowiazuje-tylko-kiedy-jest-piekne-slonce-wieszwiecej.
TVP. 2020, March 24. “Dodatkowe ograniczenia w przemieszczaniu się.” Available at https://www.tvp.info/47254028/nowe-ograniczenia-w-przemieszczaniu-sie-poznaj-szczegoly-wieszwiecej.
TVP. 2020, May 3. “The First News: W walce z epidemią Polska wykonała lepszą robotę niż zamożniejsze kraje UE.” Available at https://www.tvp.info/47856178/the-first-news-w-walce-z-epidemia-polska-wykonala-lepsza-robote-niz-zamozniejsze-kraje-ue.
TVP. 2020, May 8. “37 osób zatrzymanych po demonstracji przed KPRM.” Available at http:// www.tvp.info/47941438/37-osob-zatrzymanych-po-demonstracji-przed-kprm.
TVP. 2020, May 16. “Mix wszystkich anty-wszystko.” Available at http://www.tvp.info/48081072/mix-wszystkich-antywszystko-nietypowy-sklad-strajku-przedsiebiorcow.
TVP. 2020, May 17. “Szef MSWiA o wczorajszych działaniach policji: Podstawowym jej zadaniem jest egzekwowanie prawa.” Available at https://www.tvp.info/48089664/mariusz-kaminski-podstawowym-jej-zadaniem-jest-egzekwowanie-prawa-wieszwiecej.
TVP. 2020, May 27. “Tanajno: Frasyniuk kopał, lżył i pluł na policjantów, a sąd go uniewinnił.” Available at http://www.tvp.info/48246497/pawel-tanajno-lider-protestu-przedsiebiorcow-wladyslaw-frasyniuk-kopal-lzyl-i-plul-na-policjantow-a-sad-go-uniewinnil-wieszwiecej.
TVP. 2021, January 29. “Facebooku, Twitterze – gdzie jesteście? Nie widzicie, co się dzieje?.” Available at https://www.tvp.info/52035807/strajk-kobiet-wtargnal-na-teren-tk-interweniowala-policja.
TVP. 2021, March 8. “‘Strajk Kobiet’ zablokował rondo Czterdziestolatka w Warszawie.” Available at https://www.tvp.info/52679009/strajk-kobiet-zablokowal-rondo-czterdziestolatka-w-warszawie-transmisja-na-zywo.
TVP. 2021, March 9. “Frekwencyjna klapa Strajku Kobiet. Niedługo Lempart będzie manifestować sama.” Available at https://www.tvp.info/52695698/strajk-kobiet-mimo-8-marca-i-duzej-promocji-w-opozycyjnych-mediach-frekwencja-podczas-manifestacji-z-udzialem-marty-lempart-nie-dopisala.
TVP. 2021, April 22. “Imponujący wzrost wynagrodzeń Polaków. Ekspert ocenia trwałość trendu.” Available at https://www.tvp.info/53435033/swietne-dane-ws-polskiej-gospodarki-wysokie-wskazniki-gus-potwierdza-jak-dzielone-sa-pieniadze-z-tarczy-antykryzysowej.
TVP. 2021, May 5. “Kolejne partie zlekceważyły żądania Lempart. Liderka trafi na listy PO?” Available at https://www.tvp.info/53653072/marta-lempart-zlekcewazona-przez-lewice-psl-i-polske-2050-czy-liderka-strajku-kobiet-ma-szanse-na-wspolprace-z-platforma-obywatelska.
Uchwała Sądu Najwyższego. 2020. “Uchwała Sądu Najwyższego z dn. 3 sierpnia 2020 r.” https://pkw.gov.pl/uploaded_files/1596671416_uchwala-sadu-najwyzszego-z-dnia-3-sierpnia-2020-r.pdf.
von Soest, Christian, and Julia Grauvogel. 2015. How Do Non-democratic Regimes Claim Legitimacy? Comparative Insights from Post-Soviet Countries. Hamburg: German Institute for Global and Area Studies.
Żuk, Piotr, and Paweł Żuk. 2020. “Right-wing Populism in Poland and Anti-vaccine Myths on YouTube: Political and Cultural Threats to Public Health.” Global Public Health 15(6): 790–804. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2020.1718733.
Abstract
Full Text
The Use of Medical Populism to Claim the Right to Rule in Poland during a Public Health Emergency
Joanna Rak
This article aims to give insight into discursive means used by rulers in Poland to claim the right to rule during a public health emergency. Grounded in Johannes Gerschewski’s, Christian von Soest’s and Julia Grauvogel’s theory of legitimacy claims and Gideon Lasco’s theory of medical populism, the study identifies the evolution and characteristics of legitimacy claims at pandemic junctures critical to political regime stability. By using content and thematic analysis of news distributed by partisan media, the study uncovers justifications for autocratic rule in Poland aimed at shaping elite cohesion, opposition activity, and the potential political support of the ruled. Legitimacy claims rested upon non-medical and medical populism to a large extent. The latter provided semantic structures useful to account for the unprecedented extension of the ruling party’s power competencies and limitation of personal and civic freedoms. Moreover, while claims of dramatic restrictions and lockdowns marked the pandemic’s beginning, its further stages brought out a “vaccine messianism” and optimism related to crisis management performance.
References
Alagappa, Muthiah. 1995. “The Bases of Legitimacy.” In Political Legitimacy in Southeast Asia: The Quest for Moral Authority, ed. Muthiah Alagappa, 31–53. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.
Bill, Stanley, and Ben Stanley. 2020. “Whose Poland Is It to Be? PiS and the Struggle between Monism and Pluralism.” East European Politics 36(3): 378–394. https://doi.org/10.1080/21599165.2020.1787161.
Bowen, Glenn A. 2009. “Document Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method.” Qualitative Research Journal 9(2): 27–40. https://doi.org/10.3316/QRJ0902027.
Brubaker, Rogers. 2018. “Why Populism?.” In Populism and the Crisis of Democracy, eds Gregor Fitzi, Jürgen Mackert, and Bryan S. Turner, 27–46. London and New York: Routledge.
Brubaker, Rogers. 2020. “Populism and Nationalism.” Nations and Nationalism 26(1): 44–66. https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12522.
De La Torre, Carlos, and Oscar Mazzoleni. 2019. “Do We Need a Minimum Definition of Populism? An Appraisal of Mudde’s Conceptualization.” Populism 2(1): 79–95. https://doi.org/10.1163/25888072-02011021.
Eberl, Jakob-Moritz, Robert A. Huber, and Esther Greussing. 2021. “From Populism to the “Plandemic”: Why Populists Believe in COVID-19 Conspiracies.” Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties 31(1): 272–284. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457289.2021.1924730.
Fischbacher-Smith, Denis. 2021. “Suppressing the Seeker of Truth in the Covid-19 Pandemic: Medical Populism, Radical Uncertainty, and the Assault on Expertise.” In The New Authoritarianism, ed. Alan Waring, 301–346. Verlag, Stuttgard: Ibidem.
Francia, Peter L. 2018. “Free Media and Twitter in the 2016 Presidential Election: The Unconventional Campaign of Donald Trump.” Social Science Computer Review 36(4): 440–455. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439317730302.
Gerschewski, Johannes. 2013. “The Three Pillars of Stability: Legitimation, Repression, and Co-optation in Autocratic Regimes.” Democratisation 20(1): 13–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2013.738860.
Hedges, Kristin, and Gideon Lasco. 2021. “Medical Populism and COVID-19 Testing.” Open Anthropological Research 1(1): 73–86. https://doi.org/10.1515/opan-2020-0109.
Institute for Media Monitoring. 2020. “The Most Opinion-forming Media in 2020.” Available at https://www.imm.com.pl/najbardziej-opiniotworcze-media-w-polsce-2020-raport-roczny/.
Kozielski, Maciej. 2021. “‘Fakty’ przed ‘Wiadomościami’ w 2020 roku, widzów straciły ‘Wydarzenia’.” Available at https://www.press.pl/tresc/64474,_fakty_-przed-_wiadomosciami_-w-2020-roku_-widzow-stracily-_wydarzenia_.
Landman, Todd, and Luca Di Gennaro Splendore. 2020. “Pandemic Democracy: Elections and COVID-19.” Journal of Risk Research 23(7–8): 1060–1066. https://doi.org/10.1080/13669877.2020.1765003.
Lasco, Gideon. 2020a. “Challenging World Leaders amid Medical Populism.” The Lancet 396(10265): 1802–1803. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32377-1.
Lasco, Gideon. 2020b. “Medical Populism and the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Global Public Health 15(10): 1417–1429. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2020.1807581.
Lasco, Gideon, and Heidi J. Larson. 2020. “Medical Populism and Immunisation Programmes: Illustrative Examples and Consequences for Public Health.” Global Public Health 15(3): 334–344. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2019.1680724.
Lasco, Gideon, and Nicole Curato. 2019. “Medical Populism.” Social Science & Medicine 221: 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.12.006.
Lasco, Gideon, and Vincen Gregory Yu. 2021. “Medical Populism and the Politics of Dengue Epidemics in the Global South.” Global Public Health, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2021.1965181.
ODIHR. 2020. “ODIHR Special Election Assessment Mission, Republic of Poland, Presidential Election.” Available at: https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/4/9/455728.pdf.
Pytlas, Bartek. 2021. “Party Organisation of PiS in Poland: Between Electoral Rhetoric and Absolutist Practice.” Politics and Governance 9(4): 340–353. https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v9i4.4479.
Rak, Joanna, Roman Bäcker, and Przemysław Osiewicz. 2021. “The Right to Exercise Protest Under Threat? Between the Rise of Autocracy and Democratic Resilience in Crisis-Driven Poland.” Political Life 3: 5–10.
Rezmer-Płotka, Kamila. 2021. “Contentious Politics in Defense of Neo-Militant Democracy in Poland: The Rationale Behind Fighting a Quasi-Militant Democracy.” HAPSc Policy Briefs Series 2(1): 24–29. https://doi.org/10.12681/hapscpbs.27652.
Singer, Brian CJ. 2021. “Populism and the Separation of Power and Knowledge.” Thesis Eleven 164(1): 120–143. https://doi.org/10.1177/0725513620983685.
Szuleka, Małgorzata, Marcin Wolny, and Marcin Szwed. 2016. The Constitutional Crisis in Poland (2015-2016). Warsaw: Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights.
Tannenberg, Marcus, Michael Bernhard, Johannes Gerschewski, Anna Lührmann, and Christian von Soest. 2021. “Claiming the Right to Rule: Regime Legitimation Strategies from 1900 to 2019.” European Political Science Review13(1): 77–94. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755773920000363.
Thomson, Stephen, and Eric C. Ip. 2020. “COVID-19 Emergency Measures and the Impending Authoritarian Pandemic.” Journal of Law and the Biosciences 7(1): 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1093/jlb/lsaa064.
Tucak, Ivana, and Anita Blagojević. 2021. “COVID-19 Pandemic and the Protection of the Right to Abortion.” EU and Comparative Law Issues and Challenges Series 5: 853–877. https://doi.org/10.25234/eclic/18355.
TVN 24. “Sondaż: orzeczenie Trybunału Konstytucyjnego w sprawie aborcji popiera 13 procent pytanych.” Available at https://tvn24.pl/polska/aborcja-sondaz-kantar-czy-aborcja-powinna-byc-w-polsce-legalna-4734145.
TVP. 2020, March 6. “Krzysztof Ziemiec: dziś koktajl Mołotowa, jutro może przyjść ktoś z siekierą.” Available athttp://www.tvp.info/47003136/krzysztof-ziemiec-skomentowal-ostatni-atak-na-siedzibe-telewizji-polskiej-wieszwiecej.
TVP. 2020, March 16. “KOD protestował mimo epidemii.” Available at http://www.tvp.info/47145758/protesty-kod-w-czasie-epidemii-miroslaw-suchon-ko-konstytucja-nie-obowiazuje-tylko-kiedy-jest-piekne-slonce-wieszwiecej.
TVP. 2020, March 24. “Dodatkowe ograniczenia w przemieszczaniu się.” Available at https://www.tvp.info/47254028/nowe-ograniczenia-w-przemieszczaniu-sie-poznaj-szczegoly-wieszwiecej.
TVP. 2020, May 3. “The First News: W walce z epidemią Polska wykonała lepszą robotę niż zamożniejsze kraje UE.” Available at https://www.tvp.info/47856178/the-first-news-w-walce-z-epidemia-polska-wykonala-lepsza-robote-niz-zamozniejsze-kraje-ue.
TVP. 2020, May 8. “37 osób zatrzymanych po demonstracji przed KPRM.” Available at http:// www.tvp.info/47941438/37-osob-zatrzymanych-po-demonstracji-przed-kprm.
TVP. 2020, May 16. “Mix wszystkich anty-wszystko.” Available at http://www.tvp.info/48081072/mix-wszystkich-antywszystko-nietypowy-sklad-strajku-przedsiebiorcow.
TVP. 2020, May 17. “Szef MSWiA o wczorajszych działaniach policji: Podstawowym jej zadaniem jest egzekwowanie prawa.” Available at https://www.tvp.info/48089664/mariusz-kaminski-podstawowym-jej-zadaniem-jest-egzekwowanie-prawa-wieszwiecej.
TVP. 2020, May 27. “Tanajno: Frasyniuk kopał, lżył i pluł na policjantów, a sąd go uniewinnił.” Available at http://www.tvp.info/48246497/pawel-tanajno-lider-protestu-przedsiebiorcow-wladyslaw-frasyniuk-kopal-lzyl-i-plul-na-policjantow-a-sad-go-uniewinnil-wieszwiecej.
TVP. 2021, January 29. “Facebooku, Twitterze – gdzie jesteście? Nie widzicie, co się dzieje?.” Available at https://www.tvp.info/52035807/strajk-kobiet-wtargnal-na-teren-tk-interweniowala-policja.
TVP. 2021, March 8. “‘Strajk Kobiet’ zablokował rondo Czterdziestolatka w Warszawie.” Available at https://www.tvp.info/52679009/strajk-kobiet-zablokowal-rondo-czterdziestolatka-w-warszawie-transmisja-na-zywo.
TVP. 2021, March 9. “Frekwencyjna klapa Strajku Kobiet. Niedługo Lempart będzie manifestować sama.” Available at https://www.tvp.info/52695698/strajk-kobiet-mimo-8-marca-i-duzej-promocji-w-opozycyjnych-mediach-frekwencja-podczas-manifestacji-z-udzialem-marty-lempart-nie-dopisala.
TVP. 2021, April 22. “Imponujący wzrost wynagrodzeń Polaków. Ekspert ocenia trwałość trendu.” Available at https://www.tvp.info/53435033/swietne-dane-ws-polskiej-gospodarki-wysokie-wskazniki-gus-potwierdza-jak-dzielone-sa-pieniadze-z-tarczy-antykryzysowej.
TVP. 2021, May 5. “Kolejne partie zlekceważyły żądania Lempart. Liderka trafi na listy PO?” Available at https://www.tvp.info/53653072/marta-lempart-zlekcewazona-przez-lewice-psl-i-polske-2050-czy-liderka-strajku-kobiet-ma-szanse-na-wspolprace-z-platforma-obywatelska.
Uchwała Sądu Najwyższego. 2020. “Uchwała Sądu Najwyższego z dn. 3 sierpnia 2020 r.” https://pkw.gov.pl/uploaded_files/1596671416_uchwala-sadu-najwyzszego-z-dnia-3-sierpnia-2020-r.pdf.
von Soest, Christian, and Julia Grauvogel. 2015. How Do Non-democratic Regimes Claim Legitimacy? Comparative Insights from Post-Soviet Countries. Hamburg: German Institute for Global and Area Studies.
Żuk, Piotr, and Paweł Żuk. 2020. “Right-wing Populism in Poland and Anti-vaccine Myths on YouTube: Political and Cultural Threats to Public Health.” Global Public Health 15(6): 790–804. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2020.1718733.
Abstract
Full Text
The Use of Medical Populism to Claim the Right to Rule in Poland during a Public Health Emergency
Joanna Rak
This article aims to give insight into discursive means used by rulers in Poland to claim the right to rule during a public health emergency. Grounded in Johannes Gerschewski’s, Christian von Soest’s and Julia Grauvogel’s theory of legitimacy claims and Gideon Lasco’s theory of medical populism, the study identifies the evolution and characteristics of legitimacy claims at pandemic junctures critical to political regime stability. By using content and thematic analysis of news distributed by partisan media, the study uncovers justifications for autocratic rule in Poland aimed at shaping elite cohesion, opposition activity, and the potential political support of the ruled. Legitimacy claims rested upon non-medical and medical populism to a large extent. The latter provided semantic structures useful to account for the unprecedented extension of the ruling party’s power competencies and limitation of personal and civic freedoms. Moreover, while claims of dramatic restrictions and lockdowns marked the pandemic’s beginning, its further stages brought out a “vaccine messianism” and optimism related to crisis management performance.
References
Alagappa, Muthiah. 1995. “The Bases of Legitimacy.” In Political Legitimacy in Southeast Asia: The Quest for Moral Authority, ed. Muthiah Alagappa, 31–53. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.
Bill, Stanley, and Ben Stanley. 2020. “Whose Poland Is It to Be? PiS and the Struggle between Monism and Pluralism.” East European Politics 36(3): 378–394. https://doi.org/10.1080/21599165.2020.1787161.
Bowen, Glenn A. 2009. “Document Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method.” Qualitative Research Journal 9(2): 27–40. https://doi.org/10.3316/QRJ0902027.
Brubaker, Rogers. 2018. “Why Populism?.” In Populism and the Crisis of Democracy, eds Gregor Fitzi, Jürgen Mackert, and Bryan S. Turner, 27–46. London and New York: Routledge.
Brubaker, Rogers. 2020. “Populism and Nationalism.” Nations and Nationalism 26(1): 44–66. https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12522.
De La Torre, Carlos, and Oscar Mazzoleni. 2019. “Do We Need a Minimum Definition of Populism? An Appraisal of Mudde’s Conceptualization.” Populism 2(1): 79–95. https://doi.org/10.1163/25888072-02011021.
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