ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we scrutinised the responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in two Nordic welfare states, Sweden and Finland. At the forefront of the pandemic, the two states appeared in contrast: the Swedish government prioritised individual freedom of action and movement and expected citizens to act responsibly and autonomously to prevent virus spread, whereas the Finnish government employed reasonable restrictions that included declaring a state of emergency and encouraging citizens’ responsible behaviour while also placing greater value on protecting them from the pandemic. However, descriptive analysis in the two countries revealed certain commonalities in their responses to the pandemic, characterised by the moderate restrictions on citizens as well as citizens’ high trust in government and autonomous compliance with infection-prevention measures. Meanwhile, the cases of both Sweden and Finland imply the importance of explaining and communicating with the public based on scientific knowledge and evidence; findings also infer that the individual competence and societal equality facilitated under the two universal welfare states increased citizens’ capacity to respond to crises. Our comparison findings indicate that in both Sweden and Finland, the governments and the citizens interacted through mutual trust and entrustment, with the states minimising their intervention in citizens’ lives and citizens adhering to behaviours that contributed to infectious disease control. We describe this as a relationship of co-occurring trust and cooperation between the welfare state and its citizens.
