Crisis management in federal states : the role of peak intergovernmental councils in Germany and Switzerland during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Schnabel, Johanna; Freiburghaus, Rahel; Hegele, Yvonne

doi:10.3224/dms.v15i1.10

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-28236

Publication type:	Article in scientific journal
Type of review:	Peer review (publication)
Title:	Crisis management in federal states : the role of peak intergovernmental councils in Germany and Switzerland during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors:	Schnabel, Johanna Freiburghaus, Rahel Hegele, Yvonne
et. al:	No
DOI:	10.3224/dms.v15i1.10 10.21256/zhaw-28236
Published in:	dms – der moderne staat – Zeitschrift für Public Policy, Recht und Management
Volume(Issue):	15
Issue:	1
Page(s):	42
Pages to:	61
Issue Date:	2022
Publisher / Ed. Institution:	Barbara Budrich
ISSN:	1865-7192 2196-1395
Language:	English
Subjects:	COVID-19; Federalism; Germany; Intergovernmental relations; Deutschland; Switzerland; Schweiz; Föderalismus; Intergouvernementale Beziehung; COVID-19 Pandemie; Krisenmanagement; Internationale Beziehung
Subject (DDC):	350: Public administration 363: Environmental and security problems
Abstract:	In federal states, intergovernmental councils were the main institutions through which the federal government and the constituent units coordinated their responses to COVID-19. To examine whether peak councils assumed a leading role during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure cross-sectoral as well as intergovernmental coordination, this article compares the role of two “peak councils”—the Conference of Premiers (MPK) in Germany and the Conference of Cantonal Governments (KdK) in Switzerland—with sectoral councils in normal times and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis relies on an original database of more than 900 council outputs based on which we compare the level of activity, the publicity, the direction of action, and the bindingness of outputs. The findings show that MPK took a leading role during the pandemic, a role that was indeed unusual when compared to normal times, while KdK, which likewise does not play a leading role in normal times, did not during the pandemic either. Im Umgang föderaler Staaten mit der COVID-19-Pandemie spielten intergouvernementale Regierungskonferenzen eine zentrale Rolle. Anhand des Vergleichs der deutschen Ministerpräsidentenkonferenz (MPK) und der schweizerischen Konferenz der Kantonsregierungen (KdK) mit den politikfeldspezifischen Minister- beziehungsweise Direktorenkonferenzen untersucht dieser Beitrag, inwiefern die MPK und die KdK während der COVID-19-Pandemie eine herausragende Rolle einnahmen, um so sowohl sektorenübergreifende Koordination als auch die Zusammenarbeit der Regierungsebenen sicherzustellen. Anhand eines eigens erhobenen Datensatzes von mehr als 900 Beschlüssen und Pressemitteilungen werden Aktivität, Öffentlichkeitsarbeit, Ausrichtung und die politische Bindungswirkung der Beschlüsse einer vergleichenden Analyse unterzogen. Im Ergebnis zeigt sich, dass der MPK während der Pandemie in der Tat eine zentrale, vom Normalmodus abweichende Bedeutung zukam. Innerhalb des schweizerischen Konferenzgefüges nahm die KdK hingegen keine herausgehobene Stellung ein – weder im Normalmodus noch zu Krisenzeiten.
Further description:	Text in englischer, Abstracts in englischer und deutscher Sprache
URI:	https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/28236
Related research data:	https://budrich.de/Zeitschriften/dms/dms-2022-1-04-Schnabel-Appendix.xlsx
Fulltext version:	Published version
License (according to publishing contract):	CC BY 4.0: Attribution 4.0 International
Departement:	School of Management and Law
Organisational Unit:	Institute of Public Management (IVM)
Published as part of the ZHAW project:	Föderalismus und Covid-19: Schweiz, Deutschland und Österreich im Vergleich
Appears in collections:	Publikationen School of Management and Law

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Schnabel, J., Freiburghaus, R., & Hegele, Y. (2022). Crisis management in federal states : the role of peak intergovernmental councils in Germany and Switzerland during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Dms – Der Moderne Staat – Zeitschrift Für Public Policy, Recht Und Management, 15(1), 42–61. https://doi.org/10.3224/dms.v15i1.10

Schnabel, J., Freiburghaus, R. and Hegele, Y. (2022) ‘Crisis management in federal states : the role of peak intergovernmental councils in Germany and Switzerland during the COVID-19 Pandemic’, dms – der moderne staat – Zeitschrift für Public Policy, Recht und Management, 15(1), pp. 42–61. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3224/dms.v15i1.10.

J. Schnabel, R. Freiburghaus, and Y. Hegele, “Crisis management in federal states : the role of peak intergovernmental councils in Germany and Switzerland during the COVID-19 Pandemic,” dms – der moderne staat – Zeitschrift für Public Policy, Recht und Management, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 42–61, 2022, doi: 10.3224/dms.v15i1.10.

SCHNABEL, Johanna, Rahel FREIBURGHAUS und Yvonne HEGELE, 2022. Crisis management in federal states : the role of peak intergovernmental councils in Germany and Switzerland during the COVID-19 Pandemic. dms – der moderne staat – Zeitschrift für Public Policy, Recht und Management. 2022. Bd. 15, Nr. 1, S. 42–61. DOI 10.3224/dms.v15i1.10

Schnabel, Johanna, Rahel Freiburghaus, and Yvonne Hegele. 2022. “Crisis Management in Federal States : The Role of Peak Intergovernmental Councils in Germany and Switzerland during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Dms – Der Moderne Staat – Zeitschrift Für Public Policy, Recht Und Management 15 (1): 42–61. https://doi.org/10.3224/dms.v15i1.10.

Schnabel, Johanna, et al. “Crisis Management in Federal States : The Role of Peak Intergovernmental Councils in Germany and Switzerland during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Dms – Der Moderne Staat – Zeitschrift Für Public Policy, Recht Und Management, vol. 15, no. 1, 2022, pp. 42–61, https://doi.org/10.3224/dms.v15i1.10.