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Against the background of the great variety of interpretations of the diversity of responses to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, this chapter focuses on those responses that have been identified in research as “exceptions to the rule.” It comprises a two-country comparative study of the qualitative aspects of factors that have been responsible for the implementation of two radically different anti-pandemic policies that are termed here “liberal” and “restrictive.” The sample countries—Sweden and Bulgaria—were selected not simply as European democracies representative of the polar differences between persistent geo-political identities and cultural zones, but also as marking the poles of a continuum of measures capable of accommodating the entire variety of pandemic responses, from the most liberal to the most restrictive. Based on this analysis, a theoretical framework is developed that helps explain the underlying rationale of exceptions-to-the-rule in respect to anti-pandemic policies and approaches. This chapter identifies cultural and societal orientations, the levels and orientations of social and epistemic trust, and the values and frames that shape the perception of pandemic reality as the primary elements that need to be taken into account when forging anti-pandemic policies suitable for democracies.

Living with a global pandemic. A study of people’s worries in relation to Covid-19 in Sweden Covid-19 as a health crisis has affected all spheres of private and public life, both nationally and internationally, locally and globally. This article aims to contribute knowledge about people’s levels of worry during the pandemic’s first phase in Sweden. Worry is examined in relation to sociodemographic background, social capital, and judgements concerning potential threats and the national measures implemented. The theoretical framework utilized resides upon concepts and theories of worry and social capital. The data was collected in Sweden in April and May 2020 through an online survey of experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic. Multiple regression analysis and multiple correspondence analysis revealed that higher levels of worry were closely associated both with the judgement that the national measures implemented were not correct, and with the perception that Covid-19 as an illness comprised a greater threat than its financial and social consequences. These factors were also related to advanced age, chronic illness, and lower levels of social capital. Our findings point to the need for further sociological research – both quantitative and qualitative – concerning the pandemic’s various consequences in everyday life., Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv