Chapter 2. The role of administrative tradition in government responses to crises : A comparative overview of five Nordic countries

The purpose of this chapter is to compare how the various responses to the Covid-19 pandemic by the governments of Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Finland relate to the different administrative traditions and models of governance in these countries. For example, the Nordic countries differ in the degree of discretion that individual ministers have to propose actions within their area of responsibility. In this chapter, I examine to what extent these differences are reflected in the policies these five countries undertook in order to mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, and I provide a framework for understanding these policy choices. The differences in how the Nordic countries responded to the Covid-19 pandemic have puzzled observers, especially the contrast between Sweden’s reliance on soft policy measures and Denmark’s rapid and centralised crisis management. Although the Covid-19 crisis is unique in many respects, a comparison of Nordic governance models and administrative traditions is important for understanding why the countries acted differently