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Democracy without a sense of republic: the SUS in the times of Covid-19

ABSTRACT

How did it become possible to deconstruct the health authority of the Unified Health System (SUS) in the midst of the radicalization of the new coronavirus pandemic? In this essay, we propose the discussion that this situation expresses a problem of the foundation of Brazilian democracy itself, which consists in the rigorous affirmation of rights without the democratization of the foundations of power. In view of this analytical framework, it is suggested to understand the processes of financialization and commodification of health in their convergence with the regressive principles of judicialization, oligopolized communication, and, more recently, militarization. Considering the notes, after the 2016 coup, the deinstitution of the minimum spaces for construction and the dispute over popular sovereignty sparked a time when the political forces of the Sanitary Reform are challenged to recreate the paths of republicanization of power.

KEYWORDS
Unified Health System; Coronavirus infections; Democracy; Commodification; Politics

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