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Julie Hassing Nielsen

Julie Hassing Nielsen

Associate Professor | Senior Lecturer

Julie Hassing Nielsen

Trust in government in Sweden and Denmark during the COVID-19 epidemic

Author

  • Julie Hassing Nielsen
  • Johannes Lindvall

Summary, in English

Did the different public-health policies that Sweden and Denmark pursued in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic result in different levels of public trust in governments’ and health authorities’ ability to guide the two countries safely through the pandemic? How did the level of trust change as the pandemic unfolded? And were there any cross-country differences in the correlates of trust? Using three original representative surveys conducted in Sweden and Denmark between late March and late June, 2020, this article answers these questions. It finds that Danes consistently trusted their government and health authorities more than the Swedes did. While Swedish trust was politicized and shaped by ideology from the onset of the pandemic, this only later became the case in Denmark. The findings provide insights into popular evaluations of different public-health policies in two otherwise similar countries, with implications for future policy making. Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at: https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2021.1909964.

Department/s

  • Department of Political Science

Publishing year

2021

Language

English

Pages

1180-1204

Publication/Series

West European Politics

Volume

44

Issue

44322

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Topic

  • Health Sciences
  • Sociology

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • Denmark
  • ideology
  • political trust
  • Rally-around-the-flag effect
  • Sweden

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0140-2382