Introducing the Northern Grouping

Comprising only five states, the Northern grouping is by for the most homogenous collection of countries and have often been subject to most similar case design studies. Yet, despite their similarities and world leading index scores in democratic governance, social equality and high level of affluence, they exhibit strongly diverging responses and substantial variation in levels of politicization and modes of governance. Sweden is a key outlier with its tolerance for higher infection and mortality rates in exchange for less restrictive lockdown measures. While this initial approach was subsequently somewhat modified, it contrasts Finland’s imposition of a state of emergency and Iceland’s hybrid form of technocratic rule. All countries proved sufficiently robust to avoid lasting changes to their domestic polities and economic performance throughout the crisis diverged notably less then their handling of the pandemic.