Democracy

Originating in Sweden in 1809, an ombudsman is generally regarded as an official body of complaint which protects individuals against abuses of power and maladministration. Finland and Denmark were the second and third countries to establish an ombudsman, and the idea later spread to the other Nordic countries and further afield. The idea of a reliable and investigative complaint mechanism has also been established with respect to specific areas, such as disability or equal opportunities, and the format is even used in the private sector.

Folk high schools are institutions which provide general and vocational education for young people and adults. Based on the philosophy of Danish educator, pastor, and religious revivalist N.F.S. Grundtvig (1783-1872), the first school was founded in Denmark in 1844, but the concept spread to other Nordic countries in the following decades. There are about 400 of these schools in the Nordic countries today.

Open government is intended to ensure transparency, accountability and openness and involves fundamental issues such as press freedom, public disclosure and freedom of information legislation, all key aspects of the administration of Nordic states. These states were amongst the earliest to introduce lauded measures of open government, such as the ombudsman, and are successful in maintaining their tradition of open governance. However, they can still be criticised in some respects, such as, for closed, unrecorded parliamentary committees. Additionally, they, like other countries, have to navigate the balance between openness and protecting personal data, as well as dealing with the challenges of technology in today’s global information society.

Folkhem, literally meaning ‘people’s home’, is a Swedish term for what is otherwise designated as the Swedish welfare state or the Swedish model. It is even used and discussed in the context of the Nordic welfare state or the Nordic political model, and related ideas are prominent throughout the region (e.g. folkelighed, i.e. popular culture, in Denmark). The folkhem metaphor is more complex than is often acknowledged. Its political success is based on its ambiguity and broad appeal through multiple layers of meaning. For example, contemporary adherents of the folkhem concept tend to advocate a green and multicultural reconstruction of society. At the same time, the term folkhem has been adopted by populist and right wing extremist groups to designate their own idea of a closed society.

The term wage earner fund refers to different models of redistributing profit amongst workers of individual employers or sectors. It is often characterised by the 1975 Meidner’s model which set out that new stocks issued could be paid to funds, which would be administered by a group of directors with advice from trade unions.

The Nordic countries have a particular parliamentary culture characterised by consensus and working across party lines. Their parliaments remain influential institutions considering the general trend towards greater executive power. The principles of parliamentary government and universal suffrage were introduced comparatively early in Norden. The world’s oldest parliaments are found in the region, in Iceland and the Faroe Islands.

The Nordic experience is characterised by an upward spiral of development resulting from a close interconnection between a strong civil society and a strong state. The term ‘civil society’ was initially used in the Nordic countries as an alien concept to denote antagonism to the dominance of the welfare state. From the late 1990s, civil society came to be understood along more positive lines as a sphere of human engagement and self-empowerment. It has a strong association with the notion of democracy and refers to various social phenomena that have been prevalent in the Nordic countries since the nineteenth century, including popular movements and voluntary organisations.

Corporatism is about the influence of organisations and interest groups on policy making. The Nordic countries are societies with strong interest groups, acknowledged and privileged by the state, that wield considerable influence on policy making and implementation. Corporatism, or neo-corporatism, is found within industrial relations, but is also relevant in areas like agriculture, traffic, environment, and many others. In the Nordic countries, a number of alternative terms (e.g. ‘negotiating economy’, ‘mixed economy’, or ‘mixed administration’) have frequently been used to describe the same phenomena.

Harpshund democracy is the Swedish practice of regular tripartite consultation between government, trade unions and businesses on major policy decisions. The consultation reflects the importance of the major interest organisations in shaping and implementing policy in the Swedish political model. The assumption is that strong policy can be built on consensus between parties that may traditionally be deemed to have opposing interests.

National labour markets in the Nordic countries reflect trade union and Social Democratic principles of full employment and solidarity, while conforming to the conditions of capitalist market economies. They combine high levels of labour force participation with excellent systems of unemployment compensation. Throughout the region there is now a heavy emphasis on active labour market policies frequently referred to as 'flexicurity'. Wage differentials are low. Since 1954, the Nordic countries have had a common labour market in which citizens of any Scandinavian country can work freely within the region. Today, all the Nordic countries participate in the common labour market of the EU and European Economic Area.