What Has COVID-19 Taught Us About Democracy? Relational Democracy and Digital Surveillance Technologies

Abstract

What is the best way for democratic societies to experiment with digital surveillance technologies? This chapter contributes to answering this question through the analysis of the relational ideal of democracy. I contend that the relational conception of democracy offers a viable approach to experimentations with new technologies. The relational conception of democracy, which views democracy as a way of life (or culture), supports a deliberative and context-sensitive approach to new digital technologies. To clarify what this approach entails in practice, the chapter discusses the case of South Korea’s introduction of new digital surveillance technologies during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. These reflections shed new light on what democracy means and provide us with valuable insights on how to design post-pandemic democracies.