Civil society in a pandemic

Abstract

Background. Today, it is important to track new directions in the development of civil society in the context of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, both nationally and internationally. We see that civic activity and volunteerism are expanding within the country, and in the global space there is a revision of civil rights and freedoms, the de-intensification of international non-governmental cooperation. Therefore, it is important to conduct a comprehensive analysis and identify those institutional systems that need to involve civil society to remain effective in combating the coronavirus pandemic, as well as an equal partner with the state in building a post-pandemic world order.
The aim of the article is to analyze changes in the institutional systems of civil society in the context of the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, to establish new tools so that it remains effective in combating COVID-19 and maintains a balanced partnership with the state for further effective post-pandemic world order.
Materials and methods. The methodological basis of the study were general scientific methods of cognition: dialectical, comparison and synthesis, scientific induction and deduction, the method of abstraction.
The information basis of the article is Ukrainian and international regulations, national statistical and factual data, which contain scientific literature and periodicals.
Results. In a pandemic, it is advisable to talk about a systemic public-civil partnership. Since its announcement (March 2020), the world community has been subjected to severe restrictive quarantine measures to preserve the health of the population. History has shown that pandemics can have more devastating effects than war and natural disasters. Population mobility turned the epidemic into a pandemic, globalized it, which meant the globalization of the fight against it. WHO and the Ministry of Health have developed clear hygiene rules, additional social and economic requirements, which required the subjects to respond adequately and seek new opportunities for development in a crisis. The pandemic became an indicator of the formation of civil society and intensified the volunteer movement in Ukraine. In the context of the epidemic, the national government was unable to properly address all the socio-economic problems that arose. The experience of developed democracies, which actively involve civil society in solving the problem, has become indicative.
Conclusion. Thus, the world community has demonstrated that civil society remains effective in combating the coronavirus pandemic, and maintaining an equal partnership between the state and the community during the development of a post-pandemic world order is possible only in countries with developed democratic traditions.