A "Democratic State of Exception": The corona virus controversy in Germany

The project aims at answering the question, in which way the 'state of exception' is rolled out and is overcome in a democratic public debate. A mapping of the corona virus controversy in Germany between February and May 2020 shows the key elements of the 'democratic state of exception': (a) a highly uncertain matter of concern, which science cannot (yet) settle, (b) the articulated urgency to decide crisis-related issues and to integrate manifold expectations, (c) the relevance of time to adequately deal with controversial issues, and (d) the disputed transition towards a new normal situation. Beyond the single case of the corona crisis controversy in Germany, the concept of the 'democratic state of exception' will be useful as a script for handling further crises in a democratic way and may help to overcome the widely debated classic concepts of the 'state of exception' as a sovereign, authoritarian rule in cases of existential concern.