Prepared for the SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus? In Search of the Determinants of the Reaction to the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic – the Case of Warsaw and Stockholm

Abstract

The article deals with the activity of municipal self-government administration during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the article is to answer the question about the factors determining the reaction to the so-called first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic which was experienced by the municipal self-government administration of the two European cities: Warsaw (“hard” reaction) and Stockholm (“soft” reaction). Due to the hypothesis that the predictive and responsive potential of the municipal self-government administration of Warsaw and Stockholm differentiates their reaction to the so-called first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was decided to use several research methods: comparative analysis, analysis of legal acts, analysis of statistical data and elements of system analysis. The conducted research proves that it is difficult to indicate the relationship between the predictive and responsive potential of the municipal self-government administration of Warsaw and Stockholm and its reaction to the so-called first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The sources of the difference in this reaction should therefore be sought in other factors.