Consensual Policy-Making in the Nordic World

How the Nordic model mediates disputes between workers, businesses, and the state.

This book examines consensual policy-making in the Scandinavian countries and shows how strong relations were built between the state and different interest groups in the early twentieth century. The preconditions for these relations are strong civil societies, strong unitary states, and high levels of trust. Consensual policies nevertheless come at a price, and since the 1970s all of the Scandinavian countries have loosened their corporatist structures to pave the way for reforms.

This book examines the model developed in the Nordic countries for handling labor market relations between employers and employees - a model that has secured flexible and well-functioning labor market relations with comparatively high remuneration in case of sickness or unemployment. Consensual - and comparatively efficient - policies have likewise been pursued in agricultural and industrial policies, in environmental policies, and in many policies related to public services. The preconditions for these policies are strong civil societies, i.e. strong capacities for collective mobilization and collective action among groups, relatively strong unitary states, and high levels of generalised trust. The institutional apparatus of these consensual policies has been labelled corporatism. Nordic corporatism has implied consent to a norm of affected interests. Groups that are supposedly affected by state policies have access to the processes leading up to political decision-making, and are involved in the implementation of policies.  This access has often public commissions or committees charged with preparing political decisions and delivering advice, as well as policy implementation committees.