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Tomas Bergström

Tomas Bergström

Affiliated

Tomas Bergström

Between lockdown and calm down. Comparing the COVID-19 responses of Norway and Sweden

Author

  • Jostein Askim
  • Tomas Bergström

Summary, in English

This article studies the difference in the government response to COVID-19 in Norway and Sweden drawing upon theories of agenda setting, crisis management and multi-level governance. Despite having virtually identical systems of government and, initially, facing similar infection threats, Sweden opted for far less strict countermeasures than Norway. While Norway’s government response was similar to that of many European countries, Sweden received international attention for choosing befuddlingly soft measures, mostly recommendations and guidelines. This divergence is discussed vis-à-vis the multiple streams lens of agenda setting theory, highlighting differences in institutional and organisational legacies (e.g., the autonomy of government agencies) and intergovernmental relations (e.g., whether infectious disease expertise and authority is located at the local level).

Department/s

  • Department of Political Science

Publishing year

2022

Language

English

Pages

291-311

Publication/Series

Local Government Studies

Volume

48

Issue

2

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Topic

  • Economics and Business
  • Political Science

Keywords

  • autonomy
  • COVID-19
  • expertise
  • intergovernmental relations
  • local governments
  • multiple streams
  • norway
  • sweden

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0300-3930