Public Governance in Denmark: Meeting the Global Mega-Challenges of the 21st Century?

Societies all over the world are facing a host of daunting problems, including poverty, persistent unemployment, income inequality, unequal distribution of political power and participation, ageing populations, uncontrolled migration, and climate change. Public Governance in Denmark: Meeting the Global Mega-Challenges of the 21st Century? provides a nuanced account of how Denmark handles these urgent societal problems. Offering up-to-date academic analysis of Danish public governance, this edited volume encourages an informed and balanced debate about formulating and adopting political reform with reference to ‘the Danish model’. The authors explore how recent public governance changes have turned the Danish welfare state into a mix of a neo-Weberian state and an enabling state, deploying its considerable resources to create economic growth for the benefit of most Danes, satisfying the needs of citizens and businesses, and developing collaborative solutions to complex problems. Still, not all Danish policy changes have been successful and evolving problems require further reforms in the years to come. Public Governance in Denmark will be of great interest to students and scholars within the fields of public administration, governance, policy and politics as well as policy professionals engaged in analyzing, designing, and evaluating public policies and governance strategies.

Table of Contents:
Foreword; Robert Strand Chapter 1. Why Look North? Scrutinizing the Danish Way of Governing Societal Challenges; Peter Triantafillou, Andreas Hagedorn Krogh, and Annika Agger Section I Economic and social equality Chapter 2. Redistribution, Inequality and Nordic Welfare States: Challenges in the Global World; Bent Greve and Daniel Béland Chapter 3. Reforming the Ideal(Ised) Model(S) of Danish Labour Market Policies; Magnus Paulsen Hansen and Janine Leschke Chapter 4. Innovating Democratic Participation in Social Housing; Elizabeth Toft Kristjansen and Jesper Ole Jensen Section II Democracy and participation Chapter 5. Successive Minority Governments – Yet Cooperation and Policy Reform; Flemming Juul Christiansen and Peter Heyn Nielsen Chapter 6. Towards Hybrid Democracy and Interactive Political Leadership; Eva Sørensen and Jodi R. Sandfort Section III Public sector effectiveness and efficiency Chapter 7. The Danish Control‒Trust Balance in Public Governance; Jacob Torfing and Tina Øllgaard Bentzen Chapter 8. Digitalising Denmark: Efficiency Vs Privacy; Peter Aagaard and John Storm Pedersen Section IV Climate change and biodiversity Chapter 9. Climate Politics and Renewable Energy in Denmark 1975‒2020; Karsten Bruun Hansen and Peter Enevoldsen Chapter 10. Resilience and Adaptability Capacity in the Danish Agriculture and Food System: Continuity and Change; Sevasti Chatzopoulou and Kostas Karantininis Section V Demographic changes and immigration Chapter 11. One of the Best Pension Systems in the World?; Fritz Von Nordheim and Jon Kvist Chapter 12. Ensuring Public Healthcare and Tackling Growing Expenditures; Erik Bækkeskov and Peter Triantafillou Chapter 13. From Homogeneity to Diversity: Societal and Political Responses to Immigration; Carina Saxlund Bischoff and Anders Ejrnæs Chapter 14. Public Governance in Denmark – Current Developments and Ways Ahead; Andreas Hagedorn Krogh, Annika Agger, and Peter Triantafillou

About the Author :
Andreas Hagedorn Krogh is Assistant Professor in Public Governance and Organisation at the Institute for Leadership and Organisation, Royal Danish Defence College, Denmark. Annika Agger is Associate Professor in Public Administration at the Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University, Denmark. Peter Triantafillou is Professor in Public Policy and Performance Management at the Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University, Denmark.

Review :
Denmark has become a fabled—some might say infamous--benchmark for effective democratic governance. This book takes us deep inside the Danish system of governing and shows how it is responding to twenty-first century “mega-challenges.” We learn why the Danish model of governance has managed to produce enviable social equality, problem-solving and citizen trust even as it must confront serious challenges from rising inequality, climate change, and immigration. The balanced chapters acknowledge the warts of the Danish model, while demolishing any claim that positive government and citizen freedom are antagonistic agendas. A contemporary Shakespeare might say that there is something worth emulating in the state of Denmark. Anyone curious about the ‘Danish model’ of public governance will learn much from this well-crafted edited collection. This book brings in-depth understanding and thoughtful analysis to examining five mega-challenges facing states and societies in the early 21st century. A critical path to uncovering why Denmark ‘works’ is combined with an eye on ensuring that historical contextual factors are not forgotten. This is an excellent book that demonstrates clearly what is to be admired about Denmark, without losing sight of the challenges still faced by it and other democracies. This timely book offers a critical analysis of the Danish model of public governance. It addresses contemporary political reforms in Denmark which has turned the Danish welfare state into a mix of a neo-Weberian state and an enabling state. Areas like equality, democracy, public sector effectiveness, climate change, biodiversity, demographic changes, and immigration are covered. It is a major accomplishment and a must read for practitioners in public sector reforms, scholars and students alike.