Statens kommunikation genom lagstiftning – krisläge nu eller i framtiden? : En kvalitativ textanalys av klimatlagen och lagen om särskilda begränsningar för att förhindra smittspridningen av covid-19 

Sammanfattning: The study "Governmental communication through legislation – a crisis situation in the present or in the future?" aims to examine in what way two global crises are communicated by state legislation to see if and how those in power in Sweden use their resources. The study analyzes two laws using qualitative text analysis with a theoretical framework consisting of Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), Crisis Communication Theory and Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication Model (CERC). The empirical materials are Klimatlagen (Climate Law) (SFS 2017: 720) and Lagen om särskilda begränsningar för att förhindra spridning av sjukdomen covid-19 (the law on special restrictions to prevent the spread of the covid-19 disease) (SFS 2021: 4), which came into force in 2018 and 2021. The climate crisis and the covid-19 pandemic resemble each other in a lot of ways: both transcends borders and that affects the whole world, both nationally and internationally. Since legislation communicates how individuals and the government should and should not act, it is important to examine what legislation about two global crises tells us. Given that previous research shows that resources are put into responding to crises, rather than preventing them (Ross et al., 2015). The consequence of this is that society is exposed to crises that could have been prevented. The results of the study show that the climate crisis mainly is communicated as a future crisis while the covid-19 pandemic is handled as an ongoing crisis. The strategies for crisis response also differ, the content of the Climate Act is consistently characterized by diminution and denial, but the bolstering strategy can also be interpreted. The strategies in the Pandemic Act argues to be bolstering, but elements of denial can also be interpreted.