Public policy

Hydroelectricity is a significant source of energy particularly in Norway and Iceland. While Greenland has invested in hydroelectricity since 1990, the establishment of new facilities has stagnated elsewhere in the Nordics due to concern about the environmental impact.

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.

Immigration has been described as one of the policy areas where Denmark, Norway and Sweden have differed most since 1995. In 2018, Denmark was amongst the most restrictive countries in Western Europe, Sweden the most liberal and Norway somewhere in-between. These differences can be explained, at least to some extent, by divergent approaches to national identity and party political dynamics in each country. Increasing politisation of immigration and integration has occurred in all three countries, but has been more marked in Denmark.

In Denmark, according to a law passed in December 2018, parents who live in certain designated areas (dubbed 'ghettos') have to send their children from the age of one to nursery. The initiative is part of an effort to increase integration and illustrates several important aspects of a Nordic, state-run nursery system and Nordic society generally. Different cultural perceptions of how young children should be raised play a role, which are influenced in the Nordics by the dual-income family model, as does how individuals interact with the state.