Crisis Management, Governance and COVID-19

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Crisis Management, Governance and COVID-19

Pandemic Policy and Local Government in the Nordic Countries

9781035336524 Edward Elgar Publishing
Edited by Are Vegard Haug, Senior Researcher, Norwegian Social Research (NOVA), Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
Publication Date: November 2024 ISBN: 978 1 03533 652 4 Extent: c 240 pp
This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License. It is free to read, download and share on Elgaronline.com.

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.

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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.
Critical Acclaim
‘This book is a lighthouse for students, scholars, and practitioners who seek to understand crisis management and governance from a Nordic comparative point of view. It provides timely and thought-provoking studies about local governments’ role in crisis mitigation – a must read for all interested in an empirically grounded analysis of the COVID-19 crisis.’
– Sabine Kuhlmann, University of Potsdam, Germany
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