Corona, crisis management and democracy
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In the spring of 2020, many municipalities were taken by surprise by effects of the Corona pandemic on services and management. The Corona pandemic was defined as an extraordinary event and staff functions and crisis management committees were activated.
(Image removed) CNDS fellow Mikael Granberg(Karlstad University) and his colleague, Stig Montin (University of Gothenburg) have recently published an article on the topic of whistle-blower protection at an extraordinary event (Covid-19 pandemic) in Statsvetenskaplig tidskrift. By the means of their article, the two scholars aimed at shedding light on how two different institutional logics, one related to extraordinary events and the other related to freedom of information and whistle-blower protection for public employees.
The case showed a clash between these logics, emphasizing that even in an open democratic system, an extraordinary event can mean that the dissemination of information is limited.
They concluded that a crisis management system with complete transparency in all decision-making is neither possible nor desirable.
The entire article is available via this online repository (in Swedish).
The case showed a clash between these logics, emphasizing that even in an open democratic system, an extraordinary event can mean that the dissemination of information is limited.
They concluded that a crisis management system with complete transparency in all decision-making is neither possible nor desirable.
The entire article is available via this online repository (in Swedish).