Coronapandemin, förvaltningen och tilliten

En forskningsagenda

Abstract

Trust and government policy in Sweden during the Covid-19 pandemic: A research agenda

High trust is a success factor for both societies and organizations. Policy decisions and public administration strategies during the corona pandemic raise a number of questions with regard to trust. To what degree have different decisions and processes been trust-based and how have these decisions affected outcomes? These questions are difficult to respond to, in particular since trust can emerge as a result from both autonomy and bureaucratic control. Trust in the capability of individual citizens to make informed decisions and take responsibility can, for example, be compared to the possibility of saving more lives with more coercive policy-decisions. This article suggests a research agenda for studies on government strategies to curb the Corona pandemic, with special attention to trust. Seven key areas are identified: degree of lock-down, ethics in priorities, accountability structures, forms for collaboration (for example with academia), professional discretion, audit and inspection, and stimulus and relief measures for the economy. To fully comprehend the underlying ideas of the Swedish strategy, as well as its outcomes, I argue that all these aspects (and probably more) need to be included in the analysis.