This book provides the first comparative analysis of how state size and administrative scale influenced responses to the COVID-19 pandemic across the five Nordic states and two territories. It produces valuable insights into how state size, polity and structural arrangements, and culture influenced the management of the crisis in Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. In an era of recurring global crises, the book offers critical lessons for policymakers, crisis leaders, and public administration scholars on how state size, culture, and public leadership interact in high-stakes governance contexts.
Ásthildur Elva Bernhardsdottir is Professor of Crisis Management at Bifröst University, Iceland.Baldur Thorhallsson is Professor of Political Science at University of Iceland, Iceland.
1.-Nordic Crisis Management in the COVID-19 Pandemic.- 2.-Theoretical Framework.- Methods and Data Sources.- Theoretical Framework.- Methods and Data Sources.- 3.-Denmark and COVID-19.-Pulling the Strings in Centralised and Rapid Decision-Making .- 4.-The Faroe Islands and COVID-19.-A Non-Coercive Approach to Pandemic Governance.-5.- Finland and COVID-19.- Siloed Governance in a Shared Crisis.- 6.-Greenland and COVID-19.-Small Resources, Delayed Transmission, and Trust.-7.- Iceland and COVID-19.-Unusual Expertise-Driven Centralisation.-8.- Norway and COVID-19.-Governance Capacity and Legitimacy.-9.- Sweden and COVID-19.-A Large Yet Small Outlier.- 10.-Comparing COVID-19 Crisis Management Across the Nordic Societies.-11.- The Nordic Way and Future Perspectives in Nordic Crisis Management.