Crisis Management, Governance and COVID-19: Pandemic Policy and Local Government in the Nordic Countries

This topical book presents a bottom-up perspective on the crisis management, policies, organisation and functioning of democracy across five Nordic countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on a four-year comparative study of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, it considers the divergent local and regional management strategies employed as the crisis unfolded. Chapters consider how the pandemic jeopardised the Nordic countries’ high levels of decentralisation and citizen trust in government institutions, and the devolution of functions to local government. They explore the severe and restrictive measures employed to control the spread of the virus, and whether these evolving regimes respected civil rights and the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality. Brought together under the overarching perspective of institutional polycentrism, the book draws on a variety of theoretical strands, including theories of multi-level governance, crisis management, and organisational dependency. With empirical data, population and leader surveys and country case-studies, it presents the experiences of Nordic citizens and examines whether their trust in government was sustained or eroded. International in scope, this book is invaluable for students and scholars of regulation and governance, public administration, public health policy, and comparative politics. Its examinations of regulatory and legal frameworks will also prove useful for policy advisors working in public health and crisis management.

Table of Contents:
Contents Preface xvi Acknowledgments xvii List of abbreviations xviii PART I INTRODUCTION, HEALTH CONSEQUENCES AND LEGAL POLICY 1 COVID pandemic and the Nordic model of local governance – high stakes, high risks 3 Are Vegard Haug and Harald Baldersheim 2 How severe was the COVID-19 pandemic in the Nordic countries?­ 17 Kristian Heggebø and Axel West Pedersen 3 Legal framework and rule of law 28 Iris Nguyên Duy and Sigrid Stokstad PART II NATIONAL POLICY CHOICES 4 Denmark – centralised crisis management and loyal implementation 52 Søren Kjær Foged and Kurt Houlberg 5 Iceland: COVID-19 handling strategy in Iceland: centralised and expert-led 60 Grétar Thór Eythórsson 6 Sweden: relaxed crisis management 68 Fredrik Garcia, Erik Järnland, Johan Nordensvärd, Carl-Johan Sommar and Elin Wihlborg 7 Finland: prepared yes, but sufficiently agile? 77 Sebastian Godenhjelm 8 Norway: decentralised crisis management 86 Harald Baldersheim, Are Vegard Haug, Linda Hye, and Morten Øgård 9 The Faroese COVID-19 response: testing and soft law 97 Jens Christian Svabo Justinussen and Rógvi Olavson 10 Greenland 105 Maria Ackrén 11 The Åland Islands 113 Maria Ackrén PART III LOCAL DEMOCRACY 12 The chain of municipal governance in crisis 122 Sebastian Godenhjelm and Maria Ackrén 13 The communicative climate: municipal leaders’ experiences 132 Johan Nordensvärd Carl-Johan Sommar and Elin Wihlborg 14 Civil society: a resource for local crisis governance? 142 Are Vegard Haug, Johan Nordensvärd and Elin Wihlborg 15 Multi-level governance: a helping hand from the state, or centralisation of crisis responses? 153 Harald Baldersheim and Are Vegard Haug PART IV CRISIS MANAGEMENT AT THE LOCAL LEVEL 16 Who contributed and to what extent? 166 Kurt Houlberg and Søren Kjær Foged 17 Leadership at the apex in times of crises: Who is running the show? 178 Linda Hye and Morten Øgård 18 Keep a distance – go online! Digitalisation for crisis responses and its lasting consequences 189 Elin Wihlborg, Fredrik Garcia and Are Vegard Haug 19 Modes of local crisis management: is there a Nordic model? 198 Linda Hye and Morten Øgård PART V THE CITIZENS’ ‘JUDGEMENT’ 20 How (un)reasonable were the pandemic measures according to citizens? 209 Are Vegard Haug, Harald Baldersheim and Therese Sefton 21 Citizen trust in local government in the Nordic Countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic 219 Harald Baldersheim, Are Vegard Haug, Grétar Thór Eythórsson 22 Conclusions and implications 234 Are Vegard Haug and Harald Baldersheim

About the Author :
Edited by Are Vegard Haug, Senior Researcher, Norwegian Social Research (NOVA), Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway

Review :
‘This is a highly distinctive book. It addresses critical differences and similarities in the approaches to managing the COVID-19 pandemic among Nordic countries. It does so through the multiple frames of governance structure, crisis management, citizen trust and confidence, organizational networks as well as important contrasts between processes of reliability and adaptation. Its separate richly described cases and chapters are written by a set of very accomplished and insightful authors. It also offers very useful quantitative survey data from a wide variety of participants, at many different levels, ranging from governmental officials (mayors and municipal directors), managers of schools, kindergartens and elder care institutions, as well as five general population surveys across five countries. This book will be of great value, with its cases, data and insightful analyses, to researchers, governmental officials at all levels, as well as crisis managers and public health professionals in nations across the world. Its treatment alone of the possible role of high reliability and “high adaptation organizations” together in pandemic-like crises adds a new dimension to high reliability organizations research.’ ‘A timely book on a timely subject. It provides careful documentation along with incisive analyses from the Nordic countries of what likely may remain as the biggest health crisis of the 21st century. Highly recommended.’ ‘This volume’s strength is that it combines discussion of more conventional security topics with newer and emerging areas of inquiry. It offers thought-provoking insights into a wide array of international security topics. It will be of interest not only to specialists, but also to broader audiences with a curiosity about the many ways in which technology can both enhance and undermine international security.’