Public leadership and strategies of Czech municipalities during the COVID-19 pandemic – municipal activism vs municipal passivism

Abstract: Purpose This paper discusses the role of public leadership and the strategic response of local governments to the external shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic The authors examine the typical Czech response with regard to how the leadership of municipalities in the Czech Republic responded to this extremely negative external stimulus Design/methodology/approach The authors use qualitative research methods for this investigation They have chosen the case study method (see Yin, 2009;Stake, 1995;Klonoski, 2013) The general case is the Czech Republic Mini-cases consist of municipalities from the Znojmo region, municipalities of the Central Bohemian region and the municipal districts in the capital city of Prague Furthermore, the method of participant observation was used Findings The authors' analysis of the problem of local government responses to the pandemic crisis shows that municipal leaders responded with a variety of (non-)adaptation strategies It appears that certain framework factors influenced the various local governments' behavior Originality/value The article examines the strategic behavior of Czech municipal leaders regarding the pandemic crisis based on the observation of the reactions of local governments in the Czech Republic to the pandemic crisis and strives to define their basic strategies