New “Symptoms” of the Us Systemic Crisis through the Prism of the COVID-19 Respond

Throughout the entire period of D. J. Trump's presidency, the United States has been experiencing an unfolding systemic crisis at all levels of its political process organization. It includes a conflict between the government and American society, between US business and political elites, between the President and the legislature, between Democratic and Republican parties, and even among citizens supporting two diametrically opposed “Americas”.

A new round of the systemic crisis marked the beginning of 2020. The crisis expressed in an unexpected combination of oil prices reduction - a blow to shale companies, due to the withdrawal of Saudi Arabia and Russia from the ‘OPEC +’ agreement and the outbreak of coronavirus infection (COVID-19), which paralyzed the world economy, but more importantly, raised theoretical existential questions that seemed to have been resolved long ago.

What is the role of the State and social contract in the modern world? To what extent should it interfere in the life of citizens? What political system is most effective in its response to a crisis? Where the jurisdiction of the federal government ends and the authority of regional powers begins? Will there be a return to socialism within the framework of a Western democratic system and liberal values, or the authoritarian model will take its place as the most effective in solving the crisis, and also as a way to effectively manage society in peacetime. And most importantly, whether civilian support for this trend is a temporary phenomenon related to the shock and confusion that usually accompany a crisis, or is it a natural “rollback” after a long-term globalization and liberalization trend of the last thirty years?

The article explores current situation with coronavirus respond in the United States, trying to predict its social, political and economic aftermaths. The author shows how rapidly the political life is changing on the Capitol Hill, using as an example a complicated decision-making process about CARES Act – the most undemocratic in the US modern history.